Guide to OSH Policy for the Workplace

Occupational Safety and Health legislation requires employers to have a health and safety program in their workplace. A written occupational health and safety policy helps promote an effective OSH program. Such a policy should reflect the special needs of your workplace and should be regularly reviewed and updated. This document will assist you in writing and applying a policy for your workplace. This policy communicates a commitment to health and safety. It should be signed by a senior manager or president to further demonstrate the commitment to health and safety.

Why should I have an occupational health and safety (OSH) policy statement?
What is a policy?
What makes a policy statement effective?
What types of issues should the OSH policy statement cover?
Who should write the policy?
What should be considered when writing the policy?
Who has responsibilities under the policy?
How can the policy be incorporated into regular workplace duties and actions?
What are examples of how to communicate the policy to others?
What are some suggestions for implementation of the policy?
What is an example of a policy checklist to review an existing or new policy?

…...and it even goes much deeper.

Employer Responsibilities

Under the OSH law, employers have a responsibility to provide a safe workplace. This is a short summary of key employer responsibilities:

Provide a workplace free from serious recognized hazards and comply with standards, rules and regulations issued under the OSH Act.
Examine workplace conditions to make sure they conform to applicable OSHA standards.
Make sure employees have and use safe tools and equipment and properly maintain this equipment.
Use color codes, posters, labels or signs to warn employees of potential hazards.
Establish or update operating procedures and communicate them so that employees follow safety and health requirements.
Employers must provide safety training in a language and vocabulary workers can understand.
Employers with hazardous chemicals in the workplace must develop and implement a written hazard communication program and train employees on the hazards they are exposed to and proper precautions (and a copy of safety data sheets must be readily available). See the OSHA page on Hazard Communication.
Provide medical examinations and training when required by OSHA standards.
Post, at a prominent location within the workplace, the OSHA poster (or the state-plan equivalent) informing employees of their rights and responsibilities.
Report to the nearest OSHA office all work-related fatalities within 8 hours, and all work-related inpatient hospitalizations, all amputations and all losses of an eye within 24 hours. Call our toll-free number: 1-800-321-OSHA (6742); TTY 1-877-889-5627. [Employers under federal OSHA's jurisdiction were required to begin reporting by Jan. 1, 2015. Establishments in a state with a state-run OSHA program should contact their state plan for the implementation date].
Keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses. (Note: Employers with 10 or fewer employees and employers in certain low-hazard industries are exempt from this requirement.
Provide employees, former employees and their representatives access to the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (OSHA Form 300). On February 1, and for three months, covered employers must post the summary of the OSHA log of injuries and illnesses (OSHA Form 300A).
Provide access to employee medical records and exposure records to employees or their authorized representatives.
Provide to the OSHA compliance officer the names of authorized employee representatives who may be asked to accompany the compliance officer during an inspection.
Not discriminate against employees who exercise their rights under the Act. See our "Whistleblower Protection" webpage.
Post OSHA citations at or near the work area involved. Each citation must remain posted until the violation has been corrected, or for three working days, whichever is longer. Post abatement verification documents or tags.
Correct cited violations by the deadline set in the OSHA citation and submit required abatement verification documentation.
OSHA encourages all employers to adopt an Injury and Illness Prevention Program. Injury and Illness Prevention Programs, known by a variety of names, are universal interventions that can substantially reduce the number and severity of workplace injuries and alleviate the associated financial burdens on U.S. workplaces. Many states have requirements or voluntary guidelines for workplace Injury and Illness Prevention Programs. Also, numerous employers in the United States already manage safety using Injury and Illness Prevention Programs, and we believe that all employers can and should do the same. Most successful Injury and Illness Prevention Programs are based on a common set of key elements. These include: management leadership, worker participation, hazard identification, hazard prevention and control, education and training, and program evaluation and improvement. OSHA’s Injury and Illness Prevention Programs topics page contains more information including examples of programs and systems that have reduced workplace injuries and illnesses.

Not to mention the Record Keeping,

Employers must post injury and illness summaries now through April

OSHA reminds employers of their obligation to post a copy of OSHA's Form 300A, which summarizes job-related injuries and illnesses logged during 2015. The summary must be displayed in a common area where notices to employees are usually posted each year between Feb. 1 and April 30.

Businesses with 10 or fewer employees and those in certain low-hazard industries are exempt from OSHA recordkeeping and posting requirements. As of Jan. 1, 2015, certain previously exempt industries are now covered. Lists of both exempt and newly covered industries are available on OSHA's website. Visit OSHA's Recordkeeping Rule webpage for more information on recordkeeping requirements.

Under the OSHA Recordkeeping regulation (29 CFR 1904), covered employers are required to prepare and maintain records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses, using the OSHA 300 Log. This information is important for employers, workers and OSHA in evaluating the safety of a workplace, understanding industry hazards, and implementing worker protections to reduce and eliminate hazards.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's revised recordkeeping rule includes two key changes:

First, the rule updates the list of industries that are exempt from the requirement to routinely keep OSHA injury and illness records, due to relatively low occupational injury and illness rates.
Second, the rule expands the list of severe work-related injuries that all covered employers must report to OSHA.
.....and so on.

Yogi Berra once said, "Ignorance isn't what you don't know, it's what you know wrong." That being said, This inability to accept the most trivial shifts from our predefined notions is what leads to inescapable happenings...or accidents. Although we often forget that accidents are inevitable, we must strive to work proactively to prevent such accidents because:

Employees could be injured, costing your company tens of thousands of dollars in fines, insurance claims and medical expenses.

Fines could be issued, costing your company tens of thousands of dollars in litigation, and legal fees, and

YOU could go to Jail, for up to six months and in not so rare cases....longer, if criminal charges are brought against you.

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