Why Your Company Needs a Safety Program
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, mandates that companies ensure safe and healthful working conditions. With that goal in mind, it is critical that companies put into place a comprehensive safety program.
An effective safety program is designed to comply with all OSHA laws and regulations governing employee safety. Companies must be aware of the conditions at the workplace that could cause injuries and create provisions in their safety programs that will address these conditions. Companies must refrain from requiring employees to work in situations that are unsafe or unhealthful. Under the safety program all employees must be fully protected and trained if they must work around any unavoidable workplace hazards.
While company safety programs must be designed to keep injuries to an absolute minimum, the programs’ ultimate goal is to help companies attain zero accidents and injuries.
Safety Program Responsibility
Many companies employ a safety officer who is solely responsible for all managerial facets of their safety program and is authorized to make decisions that will ensure the success of the program.
The safety officer develops written detailed instructions covering each of the basic elements in the company safety program, and is the sole person authorized to amend these instructions. This safety officer is authorized to halt any operation of the company where there is danger of serious personal injury.
Safety Program Content
Thorough company safety programs should include the following elements:
- Company health and safety program guidelines
- Written individual programs for the types of hazards/issues that employees will or could potentially be exposed to
- Safety committee members and responsibilities
- Routine safety and health inspections
- Safety training and meetings held at regular and specific times, such as when a department’s job duties change or after there has been an accident
- Accident and incident reporting
- Accident investigation
- General safety rules for all departments
- Recordkeeping requirements
- Disciplinary actions for willful unsafe acts
Safety Program Review
Companies review and evaluate their health and safety programs periodically. For example, safety programs must be reviewed on an annual basis, when changes occur to OSHA regulations that prompt a safety program revision, or when there are operational changes at the workplace that require a revision of the safety program.