A new set of recommended practices for health and safety programs has been laid out by OSHA, intended to provide employers with a methodical approach to improving the health and safety of workplaces.
With a new and easier to use format, the document has updated the 1989 OSHA guidelines, with supporting tools and resources to particularly help small and medium-sized business continuously improve and keep up with modern health and safety practices.
One key message in this update is proactive leadership regarding health and safety, stressing that health and safety are key and essential to successful and efficient business operations. Other key principles include worker participation in finding solutions and developing a systematic approach to find and fix hazards. These principles are built around setting up business processes that are tailored for particular workplaces, such as construction, manufacturing or other industries.
The seven core elements of an effective health and safety program that OSHA has recommended are:
– Management leadership
– Worker participation
– Hazard identification and assessment
– Hazard prevention and control
– Education and training
– Program evaluation and improvement
– Communication and coordination for host employers, contracting and staffing agencies
These elements can be easily managed through the use of QHSE solutions such as iTrak, making safety information more accessible, shareable, and actionable, while also making the process more transparent throughout the organization, from frontline workers up to management. In a workforce equipped with the software to access and share safety information, employees are engaged and actively participating in making the workplace safer. With the detailed logic and technical capabilities to streamline safety processes across the spectrum of connected devices, iTrak allows organizations to manage every facet of their quality and safety processes, from hazard identification, performing inspections, workflows, and audits.