title: Triangle of prevention: a union's experience promoting a systems-of-safety health and safety program.
abstract: After years of watching company health and safety programs fail to prevent major incidents, injuries, illness, and death in industrial workplaces, union health and safety staff and rank and file activists took up the challenge of creating a union-run alternative program. Named the Triangle of Prevention (TOP), the program successfully engages both local unions and management in incident and near-miss reporting and investigation, root cause analysis, recommending and tracking solutions, and learning and sharing lessons. In all phases, TOP uses a hierarchical, systems-of-safety-based approach to hazard identification, reporting, prevention and control while aiming to engage the union, its members, and all other employees of a worksite. This article explains the foundations and workings of this program, the role of an expansive worker-to-worker training regimen, and the ways in which the program has transformed workplaces.
authors.affiliation: USW Health, Safety and Environment Department, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, USA. tmcquiston@uswtmc.org
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: McQuiston
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cable
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Drewery
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Erwin
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frederick
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lessin
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ouellette
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scardella
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spaeth
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000379:methods*; D007750:Labor Unions; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States