Rooftop Report: Workplace Safety is More Than Just Compliance

Mike Mumau, President Emeritus for Kee Safety, North America, joined Dan Huntington for this episode of the Rooftop Report to discuss his experiences in the fall protection and safety industries. Mumau was thrilled to take this opportunity to address safety issues and the topics surrounding safety he felt were not talked about enough in North America today.

“In my 20 years with Kee Safety, the most eye-opening thing for me is that we can make a real difference, and we do need to make a difference because workers’ lives depend on it,” Mumau said. “I think there’s nothing more important than sending someone back home to their family after a day’s work. And I think we need to take that more seriously.”

Mumau believes the way workplace safety’s approached in the U.S. is a reactive approach, and in his mind, the wrong path. “In the U.S., OSHA tends to get involved after the accident, and not enough before something happens,” Mumau said. “I’m trying to get the industry to look at safety proactively. Because it’s not just about compliance, it’s about safety.”

While Mumau said some industries are making progress, and in the past couple of years, he’s seen concern about workplace safety increase, the reality is workplace deaths in the U.S. due to accidents is trending up in the past five years, not down. The reason, Mumau believes, is too often compliance is approached by companies as checking a box, and not taking the extra precautions to ensure workers are kept safe, not just complying with safety regulations. And while Mumau can’t speak to what increased safety compliance measures and standards OSHA might adapt in the future, he is confident that his number one goal in working with businesses will remain worker safety.

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