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Page A14 JUNE 2017 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A
years. This is because there is fatigue in annual training.
The audience tends to tune it out. I think this is a case
where less would be more.
As I see it, every year funeral homes set aside time for
annual training. They cover the basics as previously men-
tioned, then a few hours later, it’s time to sign off on the
training certificates and we will visit this again in a year. Is
this training going to help reduce injuries? Not as much
as it is helping the employer as an obligatory CYA.
If it does not help, then what would? Now that gets into
real safety training. How many funeral directors age fif-
ty and over have bad backs? When I ask that question to
my safety class audience, about twenty percent of those
attending raise their hands. Note to OSHA and funer-
al home employers, most first call attendants do not fol-
low safe lifting procedures. Most have never been taught
safe lifting techniques. That’s why we have a pandemic
of back injuries and hernias being ignored while we fo-
cus endlessly on formaldehyde and other very mild work-
place hazards. It is what happens when we focus on com-
pliance and exclude everyday safety issues.
There are other areas that should be covered. Most ac-
cidents in the funeral home workplace fit into a catego-
ry known as “slip, trip and fall” safety. This can be a ten-
minute PowerPoint from your OSHA advisor. Instead,
the focus is on OSHA required training topics. This is
counter-productive to real safety. I wish everyone would
look at other areas too. If they did, it would reduce em-
ployee accidents.
When Safety Targets Cause
More Misses Than Hits
I don’t even recall what it was in 1989 that led OSHA to
promulgate the Formaldehyde Standard. It seems so long
ago. I just recall that it was a crisis and it had reached the
point that the government felt a need to intervene. Inter-
vene they did. Within a few months, quick drench show-
ers and emergency eye wash stations were in most prep-
aration rooms. There were also signs on the entry door
declaring the preparation room as a “regulated area.” That
was a big mistake.
Thirty years later, howmany lives has the standard saved?
Does anyone have an estimate of howmuch formaldehyde
injury rates have dropped? Of course not. OSHA does
not want that kind of information published. The stan-
dard has had virtually no effect on reducing injuries in our
industry. If I may speak frankly, the standard is mostly a
bunch of hooey. But we have it. And as a result, every year
we train all exposed employees in formaldehyde safety.
Ditto for the Hazard Communications Standard. That
is a written program and it informs all exposed workers
about toxins and other hazards. Mostly, this is about teach-
ing employees how to read a Safety Data Sheet. In some
states, annual training is required. Others require training
anytime a new hazard is introduced into the workplace. I
would not categorize this standard as “hooey,” but it cer-
tainly qualifies as “overkill.”
Of all the standards that indirectly target the death care
industry, I ammost on-board with the Bloodborne Patho-
gen Standard and Needlestick Safety Standard. Annual
training is repetitious but the hazards in blood are very real
to embalmers and preparation room attendants. I would
love to change the training requirement to every three
Gary Finch is a licensed funeral director and embalmer in Texas.
He founded Compliance Plus in 1992. Today, they represent over
700 funeral homes and cemeteries in 37 states. Compliance Plus
also serves as an advisory consultant for the International Order of
the Golden Rule. For more information on Compliance Plus visit
. Contact Gary by phone at (800) 950-
1101 or by e-mail at .
By Gary Finch
OSHA
Compliance
Matthew J. (M.J.) FitzPatrick George G. FitzPatrick S. Raymond FitzPatrick
FitzPatrick Funeral Home
George FitzPatrick Funeral Home’s
Heritage Spans Four Generations
tury FitzPatrick Funeral
Home became one of the
largest and most respected
firms in Philadelphia. It re-
mained in operation until
1971.
Raymond S. and
George G. FitzPatrick,
S. Raymond’s sons both
joined the family busi-
ness. In 1954 S. Ray-
mond opened a second
location on Old York
Road in Abington, nam-
ing George as director
of that facility. In 1986,
George was joined by his
son, Stephen R. Fitz-
Patrick, II, who became
the fourth generation in
the FitzPatrick family
to serve the community
through their family run
business. George operat-
ed that funeral home for
53 years until his passing
in 2007.
The Abington facility
underwent major renova-
tions in 1964 and 2010.
The visitation rooms are
Carriage Services
announces Record First
Quarter Results, declares
Quarterly Dividend
HOUSTON,TX— Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE: CSV)
announced record results for the first quarter ended
March 31, 2017.
Mel Payne, Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Our first
quarter performance of 2017 was also the first quarter
performance of our second five year timeframe of Car-
riage’s Good To Great Journey that never ends.
“Our Total Revenue in the first quarter increased 7.6%
to a record $68.1 million, and while our Adjusted Con-
solidated EBITDA of $20.5 million and Adjusted Net
Income of $8.1 million were also records, both of these
earnings metrics grew only nominally over last year as we
brought less of the revenue growth to the bottom line.
Our diluted earnings metrics, i.e. GAAP EPS of $0.39
and Adjusted EPS of $0.45, were negatively impacted by
a dilution factor of 8.6% related to the share count meth-
odology for our convertible subordinated notes.”
Carriage Services also announced that its Board of Di-
rectors on April 27, 2017 declared the quarterly dividend
of $0.05 per share payable on June 1, 2017 to common
share record holders as of May 15, 2017.
Carriage Services is a leading provider of funeral and
cemetery services and merchandise in the United States.
Carriage operates 171 funeral homes in 28 states and 32
cemeteries in 11 states.
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