Services — Proven Safety Solutions

To list all individual services that Proven Safety Solutions can provide within the fields of Safety and Compliance would mean accepting that there is a limit to how we can help.

Below is a general subject and topic list of services, industries, categories, and more that Proven Safety Solutions has already proven themselves in.

Don’t see something on the list that you’d like to see, just ask.

Need something unique to your company, industry, or trade, just ask.

If it can be done, we’re the ones who can do it.

Consulting

Advising clients on matters of safety and compliance is a challenging field because of the ever-changing regulations and differences between Federal, State, County, City, and Regional regulations. There are also industry-specific regulations that can apply and most of these regulations regardless of the source all incorporate by reference other standards, guides, and recommendations without actually laying out line by line what you need to do.

A great example of this is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) use of the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) standards. OSHA’s regulations fall under the 29 CFR of the Department of Labor (DOL) and while both organizations create great standards and expectations, OSHA doesn’t conform to all of the NFPA standards. So while the NFPA may have a series of standards on a specific topic if it is not incorporated into OSHA or another regulatory body it is just a best practice but not enforceable or citable.

Similarly, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), regarding the Department of Transportation (DOT) will create a list of standards that fall under the 49 CFR. However, states are allowed to alter the rules per the state. A great example of this is the markings on the side of Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs). The federal standard says that the lettering must be two inches in height and of a contrasting color however in Wisconsin they don’t have to be two inches tall, just legible at 50 feet. Same as in Illinois the last 8 digits of the VIN must be listed on the side of the CMV but is not required federally or in Wisconsin.

While we specialize in the DOL and the DOT, just to name a few, we also have working knowledge in many other fields and utilize the best resources to ensure and validate that everything we give you is current and correct so that you can make the best decisions possible for you, your business, and your employees. We are also constantly working and striving to expand our knowledge and support by regularly taking training, conducting ride-along, and attending conferences, and seminars.

Industries, Organizations, Standards, and Regulatory Bodies

Here in the United States, we have quite a few agencies that may or may not have regulations that your company must be compliant with in order to stay in operation. Just as with the small example list below, your business is yours, and it’s what you know. Let us help you protect it to ensure it stays that way by doing the work for you to ensure you meet or exceed the standards at all times so that you don’t have any issues with your business from start to finish.

Sample List: Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Commerce (DOC) with the International Trade Administration (ITA), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of the Interior (DOI) including the National Park Service (NPS), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Department of Education (ED), Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Labor (DOL) including OSHA, Employment Training Administration (ETA), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS), Women’s Bureau (WB), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Entry Level Drivers Training (ELDT)

All employers working within the trucking industry have always had extra hoops to jump through in order to maintain safety and compliance. Trucking is the most dangerous job in the country and because of this, on February 7th of 2022 all persons pursuing a new Comercial Drivers License (CDL), including upgrading an existing license, or adding certain designations such as Hazardous Materials (HM), Passenger Bus (P), or School Bus (S), must complete ELDT training by a licensed and authorized training organization.

In an effort to assist our clients with this process, Proven Safety Solutions began the long process of getting approved and is fully insured, licensed, and authorized as an ELDT provider for all of your ELDT needs. From Class B, Class B to A Upgrade, Class A, Hazardous Materials, Passenger Bus, and School Bus.

Most of the schools that offer these services take 3-12 weeks and charge $5,000-$8,000 per student just for the tuition that the employer must pay. When you add in the fact that you can’t use the employee during this time, you have to ensure them on your work compensation policy, auto policy, and liability policy. You also have to provide them with any full-time benefits they would be entitled to. You also would have to pay any per diem, room and board, or other expenses with very few exceptions. You can’t offer to reimburse, put them on a probationary period, or go after the employee should they choose to leave. All in all, you are paying $17,000-$20,000 on average (per information from our clients) and most of the schools will sell their student lists to other corporations that didn’t pay for the training and offer your employees a salary that you can’t compete with.

Proven Safety Solutions is the fastest and most cost-effective in-person school you will find for ELDT services in the country and as a part of our contract with you, we will NEVER sell student lists, or poach students for other companies. We are open to the public so unemployed persons can attend. For those not employed and paying their own way through the school we will help them find employment if they request but will refer them to our clients. Not some random corporation.

Safety and Compliance Training

Everyone needs safety and compliance training regardless of their position within your company but just like the uniqueness of your company and your employees, there isn’t always a “one size fits all” approach. Additionally, why make your employees sit through hours of training that have nothing to do with their jobs because the person offering it didn’t take the time to read the regulations?

Proven Safety Solutions prides itself on giving you, the training you need and using the time saved to give you additional training you likely didn’t know you needed. Just as you will note, NOWHERE in Proven Safety Solutions sites, training, or materials will you see “OSHA Approved” or “OSHA Certified”, OSHA does NOT certify anything or endorse anything. Something can be “OSHA Compliant” or “Meets/Exceeds OSHA Standards” but that is it.

Just as with that common mistake, another common mistake is outside (third party) trainers certifying your employees in a topic. An employer is required to ensure that a trainer is a Competent Person, however, the employer is always the certifying authority. If your trainers in the past haven’t told you that then they are doing you a disservice.

We will ensure that you have a full understanding of what is expected of you and what you need to do to be compliant and safe.

A great example of this is our MSHA Training. Yes, any workers that go onto a mine, quarry, or sand pit within the United States must have MSHA training for their own safety due to the dangers of being on the property. Every mine that my clients have ever been to if they enforce any rules at all it is that all persons coming on the property must receive an 8-hour annual MSHA refresher class. However, landscapers, excavators, concrete companies, and anyone else who doesn’t work in or on the mine turning big rocks into small rocks is what MSHA designates as an Independent Contractor. Under the 30 CFR Parts 46.12 only need hazard awareness and site-specific hazard training.

We have clients who have spent tens of thousands of dollars on this MSHA misunderstanding over the years but now get to enjoy a much simpler annual training that can include their MSHA needs as well as OSHA needs per their business and occupation.

Compliance Assistance

A common compliance issue our clients face is when they work in a specific area or industry but then expand or grow their business.

For example, a company operating in Wisconsin may conduct annual training as expected however a client calls them and needs their services in Illinois just over the border. Not knowing the company sends a few of its workers however if your workers step foot in Illinois they are actually required to receive Illinois state-specific sexual harassment training.

Just as you may have been operating a CMV within Wisconsin but are now headed into Iowa to do some deliveries, as long as you don’t go through another state first you do get 30 miles of reciprocity into the border. However, if you go through any other state first, or exceed 30 miles you now need to be compliant with all federal and Iowa state requirements in addition.

These types of changes apply to many industries and we aren’t writing all this down for you to scare you. We are doing it to be honest with you to ensure that you and your business don’t get blindsided by some rule or regulation that does or doesn’t apply to you.

Additionally, OSHA and the DOT have begun enforcing standards and regulations on farms, residential contractors, hot shot trucking, and other industries that were previously not being enforced. Grandfathering seems to be going away and things that you and your business may have been doing for decades you could now get cited for. Let us help you avoid these challenges as these fines, citations, and other factors are not something you will want to take on and try to fix on your own.

An example of this is a client of ours who runs a small landscaping business. Two trucks, four employees, two trailers, and some mowers. They have been in business for going on 20 years and were pulled over by a State Patrol Inspector. What they didn’t know was that their pickup truck which was not a CMV by itself when hooked to the two axel trailer with the mowers became a CMV. Meaning they needed to be registered with the DOT, the drivers needed Fed Med Cards, the vehicles needed annual inspections, and their company was not even remotely compliant. 3 pages of citations later the inspector let them go.

Safety Professional Development

While we pride ourselves on being the best Safety Professionals in the state, region, and soon more… ;) We do NOT want to step on an existing or aspiring Safety Professional who is either already with your company or trying to join a company. We WANT to help you and them. The world could use a few more people who care about others and the world they’re in.

If you already have a Safety Professional on your staff, we can support and assist them with policy development, program development, training, topics they may not know enough about, or even perform train the trainer events with them to help them get to where they need to be. We can provide everything they need from PowerPoint, scripts, handouts, toolbox talks, and more. We want them to succeed as much as we want you to succeed.

“Why would we do that? Why would we work ourselves out of a job? Why would we cut into our potential income?”

Simple, because it's the right thing to do. We want to make a difference and we hope that by providing you with all the resources you need to be successful and that your safety professional needs to be successful as we run out of work to do with you, you might refer other businesses you work with to us so that we can continue helping more and more people.

Just as we will help bolster or improve your in-house Safety Professional we can also help your company if you find the perfect person for your company, but they just don’t have the qualifications or training they need to do the job. We have already placed Safety Professionals with some of our clients that we trained and continue to train to improve them to be leaders within the industry themselves. We can also help you determine if you need a full-time or part-time Safety Professional and walk you through what to look for, what to expect, or where to begin.

Problem-Solving Solutions

From designing safeguards for employee fall protection to equipment for employee shielding to apparatus’ to protect employees from performing a specific task without risking injuries. We are here for you. Show us your challenge, your puzzle, your most difficult or dangerous task. We’ll show you how to do it safely.

We want to be clear that we are not an engineering firm, however, we work with them to help find solutions to your problems. We will not only devise a list of possible solutions for your unique situation we will also do all the research to ensure full compliance. We will then take that to or connect you with qualified people and companies that you can trust to validate the solution to ensure absolute safety.

This isn’t limited just to physical solutions as sometimes businesses face other issues, such as a client of ours that had a CDL Driver who had a TAI (stroke) outside of work hours. They wanted to know what rules and regulations applied to the situation and what they could do to allow the worker to continue working.

We provided all of the regulatory information and our full recommendations (both verbally and in writing). When the client’s client decided not to follow this advice and it resulted in another employee being injured, lawyers were involved within 24 hours, and many accusations were being thrown at our client. Our client was able to slide over the written report and assessments from us which their clients had also received which clearly stated that they didn’t follow the recommendations saving our client from an estimated $12,000,000 lawsuit. (compared to a recent similar case, facts, and payouts.)