Keeping workers safe from harm is the responsibility of everyone in the company. Slips and falls can be easily be prevented when spilled substances are cleaned up properly. However, to keep these and other injuries from occurring, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration oversees specific laws that business owners and their representatives must adhere to.
The associated rules and guidelines are based on the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 since it is designed to assure the safety of men and women on the job.
When businesses do not follow or violate specific guidelines, the company is considered to be non-compliant and they can be fined specific penalties for each violation. To keep this from happening, the company’s representatives should review the guidelines that apply to their specific operations. Listed below are three of the top ways to remain OSHA compliant.
Establish a Safety Program
One of the first steps in setting up a proper Safety Program is to designate a safety manager. The owner of the business, a member of management or any other employee can be placed in this role. The designated person is responsible for ensuring company’s programs are in compliance with the required standards for each of their operations.
Providing the Required Safety Training
Once the program has been set-up appropriately. The safety manager is responsible for ensuring all current and new employees are trained adequately. The training that each employee receives may be different since the requirements are also job and industry specific.
For instance, employees who work on a construction site must be trained to wear the proper safety gear. Hard hats, steel toe shoes, safety goggles are only a few that can be commonly named. To ensure each operation and area has what they need to be in compliance, the information can be found on OSHA’s official site (i.e. Training Guidelines page).
Keep Good Records
While training is one of the essential keys to keeping safe and remaining compliant, it is also important for the training to be documented. Based on the size of the company’s operations, some companies have sophisticated record keeping systems to house this data. Each company has to determine the type of record keeping system that they will need to meet these requirements.
Automated systems, however, are designed to make it easy for the company to keep their records complete and up-to-date. For instance, these systems will allow the Safety manager to record the date that the employee received training, date employee was injured, and a brief description of the incident (i.e. Slip and fell while cleaning surfaces on the outside).