Safety Policies

Safety Policies: Putting Employers’ Responsibility in Writing

Employers must not leave anything to chance when it comes to their responsibility—and commitment—to provide a safe and healthful work environment for their employees. That’s why every company needs to create a comprehensive safety policy that is in full compliance with the OSHA regulations that apply to that particular workplace. Here is a look at some of the key areas that need to be covered safety policies.

Basics for an Effective Safety Policy

Safety policies must cover a vast range of topics, including:

• Safety rules for all departments. A safety policy lists general safety rules for all personnel. Specific safety and health rules for individual departments must also be included, which are tailored to the particular safety hazards in each work area.
• Supervisors’ responsibilities. Safety policies should always spell out the responsibilities of the company’s supervisors in maintaining a safe workplace. Among their many safety responsibilities, supervisors must remain on the alert for human error and mechanical failure, and make corrections or promptly report safety problems to the appropriate company personnel.
• Injury reporting. Safety policies must include procedures all employees are to follow to report an injury. A company safety policy will instruct employees to report even the most minor injuries to the appropriate medical personnel on staff who can administer the necessary first aid.
• Correcting deficiencies. Safety policies must cover who is responsible for correcting or causing the correction of any safety hazard detected in the workplace. Safety policies further state the proper procedures for having deficiencies corrected.
• Safety inspections. This information in the safety policy should include who is on the safety inspection team, how and when inspections will carried out, and each employee’s role in preparing for a safety inspection.
• Safety meetings. Safety policies outline when and why safety meetings are to take place throughout the company.
• Personal protective equipment (PPE). Thorough safety policies explain what items of PPE employees will be required to wear, and set forth procedures for training employees in how to use PPE properly.
• Accident investigation. This portion of a safety policy should cover who will be performing accident investigations, how the investigations will be conducted, and what the investigators will be looking for.
• Recordkeeping requirements. Company safety policies need to outline safety recordkeeping and procedures as required by OSHA.

A safety policy should also state exactly what will happen if an employee violates any part of the policy by willfully committing an unsafe act, and outline the company’s progressive discipline policy.