National Safety Month

June is National Safety Month and I invite you all to celebrate your right and responsibility to be free from danger, harm or injury! Safety is an issue we often take for granted in our day to day lives. We have come to expect it, especially at work—to anticipate that our work environments are safe and free from danger. At our City offices, this expectation--and our continued assurance of well-being--is due in large part to our Citywide Safety Committee. Since its inception, the goal of this committee—made up of a coalition of management and non-management employees from all city departments and Water Works—has been to identify and remediate hazards in the workplace.

A Job Hazard Analysis was completed on all jobs within the City. With this information, comprehensive citywide policies and written programs were developed and implemented. This process involved hundreds of hours outside of the committee members’ regular tasks, but has created a program that empowers all employees to have the safest work environment possible. Committee members continue to review and work to improve the program. By becoming educated through the safety awareness training and fully participating in the City’s safety programs, employees help maintain a high level of workplace safety. The benefits of this participation are twofold: 1) We all go home healthy and uninjured at the end of the day; and 2) we experience fewer injuries and fewer lost work hour expenses are incurred. It is truly a win-win situation for our City and our taxpayers.

There are also City officials working to make sure that YOU, our residents (and "daytime residents"), are safe at work. Our Building Inspection Division is responsible for ensuring safe building environments and the structural integrity of buildings in West Des Moines. City inspectors review construction project plans for compliance with the City's codes and ordinances and conduct on site inspections to monitor the security of actual construction. To see the different objectives of our Building Inspection Division, and how they monitor compliance, visit HERE!