I grew up on farm in Southern Minnesota and yes, we had a number of silos.  They were necessary to keep the corn separated from the beans as no grain elevator would accept mixed grains. I actually see more silos living in the city than I did in the country!  How many silos does your organization have? Silos would be great IF departments, specialists and groups were like corn, soybean and wheat, i.e. they never mixed.  However, in reality functions do overlap--"silos" do interact with each other--whether or not they want to or care to admit it.  Why bring this up?  Because the success and effectiveness of organizational initiatives and day to day business practices in general depend on breaking down the silos and developing and instilling cross functional "value stream" teams.  If you've had difficulty implementing and improving ergonomics,lean, customer service, safety, etc. it's most likely because they were done in a vacuum (silo) instead of across the organization.  "The Conversation You & Your Company Can't Afford Not to Have" is an article that is a perfect example of the of the difficulty of optimizing worker performance, health and safety if done by "silos" instead of the "system".

Two non-related topics are covered in "News You Need To Know".  A new memo from OSHA that allows union representation in non-union employers and the convergence of OSHA, Obamacare and AMA on worker health.