• Reduce work related injuries and illnesses

• Improve morale and productivity

• Reduce workers’ compensation costs

OTHER INFORMATION:

• Safety and health programs are recommended for all general industry businesses, but, at this point, are voluntary.

• Accidents are more expensive than most people realize because of the hidden costs.

• Some costs are obvious — for example, Workers’ Compensation claims which cover medical costs and indemnity payments for an injured or ill worker. These are the direct costs of accidents.

• But what about the costs to train and compensate a replacement worker, repair damaged property, investigate the accident and implement corrective action, and to maintain insurance coverage? Then there are the costs related to schedule delays, added administrative time, lower morale, increased absenteeism, and poorer customer relations. These are the indirect costs of accidents.

• An effective occupational safety and health program includes the following four elements:

  • Safety and health training

  • Hazard prevention and control

  • Worksite analysis

  • Management commitment and employee involvement

OTHER NOTES:

The best Safety and Health Programs involve every level of the organization, instilling a safety culture that reduces accidents for workers and improves the bottom line for managers.

What are the common characteristics of a safety and health culture?

• Management believes that safety and health on the job is as important a company goal as other organizational objectives, such as cost control, quality, and productivity.

• Individuals within the organization believe they have a right to a safe and healthy workplace.

• Each person accepts personal responsibility for ensuring his or her own safety and health.

• Everyone believes he or she has a duty to protect the safety and health of others.

• These are complementary elements

• Management commitment provides motivation and resources

• Employee involvement allows workers to develop and express commitment to safety and health

• Management must be committed to safety and health protection as much as other organizational purposes.

• Management leadership and employee involvement are tied together because one is not effective without the other. A plant manager can be totally committed, but if employees follow blindly or are not involved, problems will only temporarily be solved.

• Clearly state a worksite safety and health policy

• Establish and communicate a clear goal and objective for the safety and health program

• Involve top management in implementing the program

• Encourage employees to get involved in the program and in decisions that affect their safety and health

• Communicate responsibility for all program aspects

• Employees must commit to safety and health protection for themselves and fellow workers.

  • Examples: inspection or hazard analysis teams; developing or revising safe work rules; training new hires or co-workers; assisting in accident investigations.

• Parties responsible for the safety and health program must have authority and resources

• Managers, supervisors, and employees must be held accountable for meeting their responsibilities

• Program operations must be reviewed at least annually, to evaluate, identify deficiencies, and revise, as needed

• Examine the worksite and identify:

  • existing hazards

  • conditions and operations where changes might occur to create hazards

• Management must actively analyze the work and the worksite to anticipate and prevent harmful occurrences

• Management must provide the resources and authority so all personnel can find the hazards in the worksite and, once found, eliminate or control those hazards.

• Conduct a comprehensive baseline survey for safety and health
  • Industrial hygiene survey: at a minimum, all chemicals and hazardous materials in the plant should be inventoried, the hazard communication program should be reviewed, and air samples analyzed. For many industries, a survey of noise levels, a review of the respirator program, and a review of ergonomic risk factors are needed.
• Job Hazard Analysis

  • This involves studying and recording each step of a job, identifying existing or potential job hazards and determining the best way to perform the job to reduce or eliminate hazards. Jobs that were initially designed to be safe may change over time so they have hazards or require unsafe operations. Job safety analysis should form a base for the comprehensive survey. It includes analyzing planned and new facilities, processes, materials, and equipment. See Publication #3071, Job Hazard Analysis

• Who may help you:
  • OSHA Consultation Program

    • For small businesses, OSHA-funded, state-run consultation services can conduct a comprehensive survey at no cost. Many workers’ compensation carriers and other insurance companies offer expert services to help their clients evaluate safety and health hazards. Larger businesses may find the needed expertise at the company or corporate level. See www.osha.gov/oshprogs/consult.html for more information

  • Insurance companies
  • Consultants

• Conduct regular (usually weekly) site inspections

  • Routine site safety and health inspections are designed to catch hazards missed at other stages. This type of inspection should be done at regular intervals, generally on a weekly basis. In addition, procedures should be established that provide a daily inspection of the work area.

• Establish daily work area inspection procedures

• Develop and use a checklist

  • You can use a checklist already developed or make your own, based on:

    - Past problems

    - Standards that apply to your industry

    - Input from everyone involved

    - Your company's safety practices or rules

• Provide a reliable system for employees, without fear of reprisal, to notify management about apparent hazardous conditions and to receive timely and appropriate responses

• Investigate accidents and “near miss” incidents, so that their causes and means for prevention are identified

  • Six key questions should be answered in the accident investigation and report: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Thorough interviews with all involved are necessary. The primary purpose of the investigation is to prevent future occurrences. Therefore, the results of the investigation should be used to initiate corrective action.

• Analyze injury and illness trends, so that common cause patterns can be identified and prevented

  • Review of the OSHA injury and illness forms is the most common form of pattern analysis, but other records of hazards can be analyzed for patterns. Examples are inspection records, workers’ compensation claims, and employee hazard reporting records.

• Start by determining that a hazard or potential hazard exists

• Where feasible, prevent hazards by effective design of job or job site

• If the hazard cannot be eliminated, use hazard controls

• Eliminate or control hazards in a timely manner

• OSHA Safety & Health Management Systems eCat

  • This eCAT (electronic Compliance Assistance Tool) will help you review and evaluate key aspects of your Safety and Health Program, if you have one. If you do not have one, it could help you think about elements of a good program. It is straightforward and very easy to use.

  • OSHA invites you to try out this tool, and welcomes your comments and suggestions. http://www.osha-slc.gov/SLTC/safetyhealth_ecat/index.html

• Engineering controls

  • Where feasible and appropriate, the first and best strategy is to control the hazard at its source. Engineering controls do this, unlike other controls that generally focus on the employee exposed to the hazard. The basic concept is that the work environment and the job itself should be designed to eliminate hazards or reduce exposure to hazards.

• Administrative controls

  • Includes exercise breaks and rotation of workers. These types of controls are normally used in conjunction with other controls.

• Personal protective equipment

  • PPE is a supplementary method of control via clothing or equipment when hazard exposure cannot be engineered completely out, and when other forms of control cannot provide sufficient additional protection. Remember, PPE is the last level of control!

• Safe work practices communicated

  • via training, positive reinforcement,

  • correction of unsafe performance,

  • enforcement

  • Include your company’s general workplace rules and other operation-specific rules. For example, even when a hazard is enclosed, exposure can occur when maintenance is necessary.

• Maintain the facility and equipment

• Emergency planning

  • Training and drills, as needed

• Medical program

  • First aid on site

  • Physician and emergency care nearby

• Address the safety and health responsibilities of all personnel

• Incorporate it into other training and job performance/practice

• Training is the backbone of this system. For management to lead, for personnel to analyze the worksite for hazards, and for hazards to be eliminated or controlled, everyone involved must be trained. The scope of the training depends on the size and complexity of the worksite and the hazards involved.

• Who Needs Training?

  • Target new hires, contract workers, employees who wear PPE and workers in high risk areas. Managers and supervisors should also be included in the training plan.

  • Manager training should emphasize their important role in visibly supporting the safety and health program and setting a good example.

  • Supervisor training should cover company policies and procedures, hazard detection and control, accident investigation, handling of emergencies, and how to train and reinforce training.

  • Long-term workers who have job changes as a result of new processes or materials.

  • The entire workforce needs periodic refresher training in responding to emergencies.

• Employees must understand the hazards they may be exposed to and how to prevent harm to themselves and others from hazard exposure

• Orientation training must be given to site and contract workers

• Analyze work to identify potential hazards in area of responsibility.

• Maintain physical protections in work areas.

• Reinforce employee training through performance feedback and, if needed, enforcement of safe work practices.

• Hazard recognition

• Training required in standards

• Emergency response

• Accident investigation

• Emergency drills

• Reduce work related injuries and illnesses

• Improve morale and productivity

• Reduce workers’ compensation costs

• Include these four elements:

  • Management commitment and employee involvement

  • Worksite analysis

  • Hazard prevention and control

  • Safety and health training

• More information: See OSHA's Voluntary Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines. Federal Register (1989, January 26), (54 FR 3904). It is available at the OSHA technical link for Safety and Health Programs at www.osha.gov.