NDA Convention: Casting a Safety Net

Equipment made by Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill., is found on active job sites, some with extreme conditions, making it a logical candidate to provide safety advice to the industries it serves.

At the company’s display area at the 2009 National Demolition Association Convention, it offered a large-screen view of its informational safety.cat.com Web site.

According to Caterpillar Web Process Consultant Chad Cutting, the site offers some 100 “toolbox talk” handouts that can serve as the basis “for two years’ worth of weekly safety meetings.” Topics range from parking on a slope to carbon monoxide poisoning.

The site also features a library of safety videos, ranging from a 1970s Caterpillar “classic” entitled “Shake Hands with Danger,” to newer videos with narrower focuses on specific machines such as the 992G Wheel Loader.

Also available through the safety.cat.com Web site, for fees ranging from $20 and up, are more than 75 online training courses, including some listed as “OSHA essentials.”

Cutting says the site is gaining popularity with Caterpillar customers, and the company is asking its customers to use the Web site’s resources because of the importance of avoiding the personal and financial losses that occur with a lost-time safety incident.

The NDA Convention took place April 5-8 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando, Fla.