5 WAYS TO AVOID OSHA CITATIONS BY INCREASING EMPLOYEE SAFETY
In 2012, private-sector workers suffered 2,976,400 recordable on-the-job injuries. Of those, 340,900 involved skin tears, strains, and sprains while 219,630 included slips, trips, and falls. Some 905,700 injuries required recuperating time off for a median duration of eight days.
Your company can save $4-$6 for every $1 you invest in a safety program. Following these tips from the National Law Review will help mitigate workplace hazards and protect your employees while avoiding expensive OSHA citations.
1. Provide Comprehensive Workforce Safety Training Regularly
OSHA cites employers that fail to meet various training requirements. Examples include not instructing workers on pertinent safety matters and neglecting to ensure that crews understand the regulations. Fortunately, these violations are avoidable. After comprehensive safety training, have team members complete quizzes to demonstrate their full comprehension.
Many companies require personnel to get high exam scores between 90 and 100 percent. Provide retraining and retesting for any employees who don’t attain minimum acceptable grades on their first attempts. Keep all records including safety training materials and quizzes on file. Having these documents handy in case an OSHA inspection arises will prove that you’ve complied with the federal agency’s training requirements.
2. Conduct Internal Safety Audits
Choose a reputable safety compliance company to manage audits that identify and remove workplace safety hazards, cementing your ongoing excellent reputation. National PEO offers facility audits that match sweeping OSHA inspections with full written reports and photos showing any safety hazards. We review your latest safety procedure documents and highlight potential safety and compliance problems in your 5-year backlog of OSHA 300 forms. A thorough analysis of all safety-related records includes your printed environmental program measures, hazardous material management plan, and accident reports with supporting documentation.
Our services don’t end when we point out your crew’s main safety risks. We’ll also make sure that you prioritize and eradicate all impending threats correctly and completely. Whenever OSHA inspections discover compliance issues, National PEO is ready to facilitate your abatement. We’ll implement a methodical action plan so your organization will comply with OSHA’s regulations and be a safer workplace for your team.
3. Create a Steadfast Safety Culture
Strong dependable safety values and behaviors are crucial to protect your staff. All management levels need to communicate with employees actively and be present physically where personnel work. These actions demonstrate superiors’ attention to crew safety, which increases workers’ safety commitment and general job satisfaction. Visit work sites to notice potential hazards first hand and discover others by conversing with staffers.
Assure laborers that your company prioritizes safety before production while welcoming and encouraging suggestions to improve workplace safeguards. Promoting open communication inspires safety obligations at all job levels and improves the chances of uncovering potential problems significantly. Often, workers identify possible hazards first. Using specific machines or in certain areas regularly enables them to offer insightful suggestions to resolve issues. Whenever employees identify potential dangers, assess situations promptly and address concerns within reasonable intervals.
4. Maintain and Communicate Current Safety Information
Your organization must provide your staff with vital safety information including emergency evacuation procedures. Depending on your industry, OSHA may mandate that you provide written guidance covering safe work performance essentials. You need to document job-related illnesses and injuries and possibly complete process safety management forms.
Review OSHA’s changing documentation requirements regularly to determine your latest stipulations, and review your documents to be certain they’re current and thorough. Confirm that affected workers comprehend safety materials fully, know when and how to use them, and appreciate the reasons for maintaining them. That helps assure team safety while giving you another chance to offer suggestions and reveal missing information.
5. Protect Temporary Workers and Contractors
Safeguarding all job-site crewmembers including temporary staff and contractors is key. You can avoid many tragic events by verifying that everyone follows standard safe practices. OSHA’s compliance officers have expanded their inspection scope to include temp workers who undergo on-site hazardous exposures. That directive increased inspections involving transitory workforces by 322 percent during 2014.
OSHA issued countless citations to employers but found temporary staffing agencies noncompliant in just 15 percent of inspections. Often, host companies failed to train short-term laborers properly or provide safety gear that their permanent employees use routinely, increasing transitory workers’ injury risks. Temporary staff providers received citations mostly for violations involving not training personnel properly.