Editor’s Note: This article is Part 2 in a 2-part series on Injury and Illness Prevention Plans. Also check out Part 1, which discusses the benefits of I2P2s.
Are you interested in developing an injury and illness prevention plan (I2P2) for your company but not sure where to begin? According to OSHA, the following 6 elements are the essential components of most proactive safety plans, including those used by companies seeking acceptance in to OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Plan (VPP) and the state-run Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP).
- Management leadership
- Establish clear safety and health goals for the program and define the actions needed to achieve those goals.
- Designate one or more individuals with overall responsibility for implementing and maintaining the program.
- Provide sufficient resources to ensure effective program implementation.
- Worker participation
- Consult with workers in developing and implementing the program and involve them in updating and evaluating it.
- Include employees in workplace inspections and incident investigations.
- Encourage workers to report concerns such as hazards, injuries, illnesses, and near misses.
- Protect the rights of workers who participate in the program.
- Hazard identification and assessment
- Identify, assess, and document workplace hazards by soliciting input from workers, inspecting the workplace, and reviewing available information on hazards.
- Investigate injuries and illnesses to identify hazards that may have caused them.
- Inform workers of the hazards.
- Hazard prevention and control
- Establish and implement a plan to prioritize and control identified hazards.
- Provide interim controls to protect workers from any hazards that cannot be controlled immediately.
- Verify that all control measures are implemented and are effective.
- Discuss the hazard control plan with affected workers.
- Education and training
- Provide education and training to workers in a language and vocabulary they can understand. They should know:
- Procedures for reporting injuries, illnesses, and safety and health concerns;
- How to recognize hazards;
- Ways to eliminate, control, or reduce hazards;
- Elements of the program; and
- How to participate.
- Periodically conduct refresher education and training.
- Program evaluation and improvement
- Conduct a periodic review to determine if the program has been implemented as designed and is making progress toward its goals.
- Modify the program as necessary to correct deficiencies.
- Continuously look for ways to improve the program.
Though the 6 elements above form the core of any effective I2P2, one size does not fit all. Employers should scale and adapt the program elements to meet the needs of their businesses, depending on size, industry sector, and complexity of operations.
For more assistance developing an I2P2, download one of the following BLR templates and customize it for your facility: