safety staffing

OSHA’s Recording and Reporting Rule: What You Need to Know

August 16, 2023 By John Cambre

Osha Recordkeeping – Part 1

The requirement for private employers to record and report certain injuries and illnesses was one of the many cornerstones found in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

In the development of the OSHA Act Congress saw a need to have employers use a system to track injuries and illnesses. In doing so, employers would have a database that could be used to address any hazards in the workplace that have gone unattended.

Excerpt from the OSHA Act: Section 8 paragraph (c) (2)

“The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall prescribe regulations requiring employers to maintain accurate records of, and to make periodic reports on, work-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses other than minor injuries requiring only first aid treatment and which do not involve medical treatment, loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, or transfer to another job.”

Updated Version in 2001

On January 19, 2001, OSHA issued an updated version of the original standard in the Federal Register.

The final rule contains provisions mandating the recording of work-related injuries and illnesses that must be entered on the OSHA 300 (Log) and 301 (Incident Report) forms.

It sets out the recording requirements that employers are required to follow in recording cases.

The final rule also mandates that each employer who is required by OSHA to keep records must record each fatality, injury, or illness that is work-related, is a new case and not a continuation of an old case, and meets one or more of the general recording criteria:

Death
Days Away from Work
Restricted Work Activity (commonly called “light duty”)
Transfer to another job (yes, this is recordable!)
Other recordable (like hearing loss or one stitch to the finger)

The updated standard contains a table that points employers and their recordkeepers to the various sections of the rule that determine which work-related injuries and illnesses are to be recorded.

These sections lay out the requirements for determining whether an injury or illness is work-related, if it is a new case, and if it meets one or more of the general recording criteria. In addition, the table contains a row addressing the application of these and additional criteria to specific kinds of cases (needlestick and sharps injury cases, tuberculosis cases, hearing loss cases, medical removal cases, and musculoskeletal disorder cases).

OSHA Reporting Decision Tree

The following is a decision tree, or flowchart, that shows the steps involved in determining whether a particular injury or illness case must be recorded on the OSHA forms.

Key Point

What are the OSHA reporting requirements the employer must comply with? This part of the OSHA rule was updated on September 18, 2014.

All employers are required to notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye.
A fatality must be reported within 8 hours.
An in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss must be reported within 24 hours.

Be prepared to supply the following information when reporting: Business name; names of employees affected; location and time of the incident, brief description of the incident; contact person; and phone number.

So, when do the eight hours start? The OSHA requirement seems a little vague. Here is a recommendation. Use the death certificate as a legal time of death.

All employers should have a policy and procedure that outlines what to do if a fatality occurs in their organization. Using a death certificate as a legal time of death is a good point to add to the policy. Also, as an employer, you have 8 hours to report. Use this time to do your investigation, get all the details, and report 7.5 hours after the incident.

Do I have to report the fatality, in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye if it resulted from a motor vehicle accident on a public street or highway?

If a motor vehicle accident occurs in a construction work zone, you must report the fatality, in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye.

If a motor vehicle accident occurred on a public street or highway but not in a construction work zone, you do not have to report the fatality, in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye to OSHA. However, the fatality, in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye must be recorded on your OSHA injury and illness records if you are required to keep such records.

Be aware that some cases that are not reportable may still be recordable.

For more information, go to this link: 1904.39 – Reporting fatalities, hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye as a result of work-related incidents to OSHA. | Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Key Point

Are there exceptions to the recording of a work-related injury or illness?

This becomes interesting. If a worker is hurt at work but the review of the injury or illness falls into one of the following exceptions, the employer does not have to record the incident.

Here they are:

You are not required to record injuries and illnesses if…

At the time of the injury or illness, the employee was present in the work environment as a member of the general public rather than as an employee.
- Example: The worker is there to pick up their check and is not scheduled to work that shift.
The injury or illness involves signs or symptoms that surface at work but result solely from a non-work-related event or exposure that occurs outside the work environment.
- Example: a heart attack at work due to a lifestyle issue.
The injury or illness results solely from voluntary participation in a wellness program or in a medical, fitness, or recreational activity such as blood donation, physical examination, flu shot, exercise class, racquetball, or baseball.
The injury or illness is solely the result of an employee eating, drinking, or preparing food or drink for personal consumption (whether bought on the employer’s premises or brought in).
- For example, if the employee is injured by choking on a sandwich while in the employer’s establishment, the case would not be considered work-related.
- Note: If the employee is made ill by ingesting food contaminated by workplace contaminants (such as lead) or gets food poisoning from food supplied by the employer, the case would be considered work-related.
The injury or illness is solely the result of an employee doing personal tasks (unrelated to their employment) at the establishment outside of the employee’s assigned working hours.
The injury or illness is solely the result of personal grooming, self-medication for a non-work-related condition, or is intentionally self-inflicted.
- For example: an employee gets mad at the potato chip vending machine and breaks the glass to get his bag of chips. The injury was a severe laceration to the hand and forearm, requiring sutures (stitches). And yes, it’s not recordable.

The injury or illness is caused by a motor vehicle accident and occurs on a company parking lot or company access road while the employee is commuting to or from work.
- Note: There are two commutes a day: from your home to your first business stop and from your last business stop to your home. Injuries and illnesses that happen during the commute are not recordable.
The illness is the common cold or flu (note: contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, brucellosis, hepatitis A, or plague are considered work-related if the employee is infected at work).
The illness is a mental illness. Mental illness will not be considered work-related unless the employee voluntarily provides the employer with an opinion from a physician or other licensed healthcare professional with appropriate training and experience (psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, etc.) stating that the employee has a mental illness that is work-related.
- Example: Your boss drove you crazy.

Stay tuned for more.

Osha Record-keeping Requirements: I hate paperwork! Don’t you?

July 18, 2023 By John Cambre

The simple answer is yes! But when it comes to the Federal government rules, paperwork is still a requirement.

Even a small business can be required by the Department of Labor/OHSA to keep certain records required by regulations.

Let us start with the OSHA Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) Part 1904 Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. The OSHA recording and reporting rule had a major update in 2001. And had another update in 2020.

The rule applies to all private employers (unless exempted see link in article) and public entities in some state OSHA programs.

Three OSHA recordkeeping forms are required to be kept in writing if your company has more than ten full time employees (temporary labor that you supervise on a day-to-day basis count as an employee).

The forms, 300 Log, 301 Incident Report, and the 300 A Summary, are required to be maintained for five years. These forms are required to be completed when ever an employee has experienced a work-related injury or illnesses that meets the recordable criteria. Once the recordable incident has taken place the employer has 7 calendar days to record the incident on the form 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses.

In addition to the Form 300 Log entry, the employer is also required to complete form 301Injury and Illness Incident Report. The 301 describes the recordable injury or illness in detail.

If there is an OSHA visit by a compliance officer, the officer will ask to see the last three years of these forms. This is a common procedure that takes place during the opening conference. By the way if the employer cannot readily produce the forms in that meeting, the company has four business hours to produce them.

If the injury or illnesses recordable meets the definition of a “privacy case,” the employer is required to keep a separate confidential 300 log and 301 incident report. There should be procedures in place to protect that information within the company.

One note about keeping the required injury and illness forms. As a company you may be exempt from keeping them if you are listed as a low hazard industry.

This exemption if based on your North American Industrial Classification System business code (NAICS).

From the OSHA website:

Non-Mandatory Appendix A to Subpart B — Partially Exempt Industries

Employers are not required to keep OSHA injury and illness records for any establishment classified in the following North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), unless they are asked in writing to do so by OSHA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), or a state agency operating under the authority of OSHA or the BLS. All employers, including those partially exempted by reason of company size or industry classification, must report to OSHA any workplace incident that results in a fatality, in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye (see § 1904.39). The list of partially exempt industries is based on the 2007 NAICS codes. If an industry listed on the “Non-Mandatory Appendix A to Sub part B – Partially Exempt Industries” no longer exists in the 2017 and 2022 NAICS coding system, this would not change your partially exempt status.

Recordkeeping – Non-Mandatory Appendix A to Subpart B — Partially Exempt Industries | Occupational Safety and Health Administration (osha.gov)

Final note on CFR 1904. The three forms can be on your computer system.

Here is a link to the forms with directions: OSHA Forms for Recording Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses

Next, the bloodborne pathogen rule, OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1030.

This standard governs the requirement to maintain a recording of all needlesticks injuries. The standard applies mostly to the medical field or to any company that may have a potential exposure to contaminated needlesticks and or blood and bodily fluids. The employer must maintain a sharps injury log unless it is exempt under Part 1904 — Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. (See the above link)

The term sharps refer to needlesticks. Employees who have experienced an accidental needlestick to any part of their body have a potential to contract an illness. The employer is required to record that incident on the 300 Log as an injury. If the employee is diagnosed thru testing and has contracted a disease the employer must go back to the 300 Log and reclassify the injury as an illness.

Employees who have had exposure to a splash of blood or any potentially infectious material must record the incident on the 300 Log as a privacy case.

The next required OSHA paperwork pertains to medical records.

The standard, OSHA CFR 1910.1020 Access to employee exposure and medical records. , has been around since 1996 and was updated in 2011. Briefly, this OSHA standard is applicable when an employer is required to submit the employee to a medical test to record some aspect of health exposure. At that point, the test becomes a medical record and is required to be kept by the employer for the employee’s length of employment and an additional 30 years. Yep, 30 years.

What other OSHA standards apply to this standard?

Let us start with the two most common standards: OSHA CFR 1910.134 Respiratory Protection and OSHA CFR 1910.94 Hearing Conservation Program.

The respiratory standard requires each employee who are required to wear a respirator (definition of respirator):

Air-purifying respirator means a respirator with an air-purifying filter, cartridge, or canister that removes specific air contaminants by passing ambient air through the air-purifying element.

Atmosphere-supplying respirator means a respirator that supplies the respirator user with breathing air from a source independent of the ambient atmosphere and includes supplied-air respirators (SARs) and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) units.

to complete a required medical evaluation by a licensed health care professional. Here is a link to form:

1910.134 App C – OSHA Respirator Medical Evaluation Questionnaire (Mandatory). | Occupational Safety and Health Administration

That medical evaluation is a medical record.

The second standard, Hearing Conservation Program, requires the employer in general industry only (does not apply to construction) to conduct a baseline hearing test for each employee upon entering the company and to conduct a required annual audiometric hearing test to compare to the baseline.

The test is required for employees who will have a potential exposure to noise at or above 85 decibels measured on an 8-hour time weighted average.

Other standards that fall under the medical records requirements are just to name a few:

CFR 1910.1001 Asbestos

CFR 1910.1025 Lead

CFR 1910.1028 Benzene

CFR 1910.1048 Formaldehyde

CFR 1910.1052 Methylene Chloride

CFR 1910.1053 Respirable Crystalline Silica

Good luck with keeping those records. For more information, please see www.osha.gov.

Simple but not Easy: Part 3

June 21, 2023 By John Cambre

Are you starting or revamping an occupational safety and health program? Well, here is some good advice: The steps are simple, but the process is not easy.

In November of 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, issued an updated Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs. The last time OSHA issued recommendations for establishing a safety and health program was 1989.

The new recommendations give employers an excellent blueprint on starting and maintaining an occupational safety and health program.

“The Recommended Practices are designed to be used in a wide variety of small and medium-sized business settings. The Recommended Practices present a step-by-step approach to implementing a safety and health program, built around seven core elements that make up a successful program.”

Source: https://www.osha.gov/safety-management

Here are the seven core steps:

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, Contractors, and Staffing Agencies

Part 3 Starts Here.

6. Program Evaluation and Improvement

It is an old statement: What gets measured gets done. The origin of the statement is up for grabs however the message is clear: when you measure a process/policy/procedure it gives you the information you need to make sure you achieve what you set out to do or fix what you are not.

So, let us clarify for a moment: Program Evaluation and Improvement = A Safety and Health Program Audit.

Once safety and health programs are established, it should be evaluated/audited initially to verify that it is being implemented as intended.

After that, employers should periodically, and at least annually, step back and assess/audit what is working and what is not, and whether the program is on track to achieve its goals.

Whenever these assessments/audits identify opportunities to improve the program, employers, managers, and supervisors—in coordination with workers—should adjust and monitor how well the program performs as a result.

Sharing the results of monitoring and evaluation within the workplace, and celebrating successes, will help drive further improvement.

Program evaluation and improvement/audit includes:

Establishing, reporting, and tracking goals and targets that indicate whether the program is making progress.
Evaluating the program initially and periodically thereafter to identify shortcomings and opportunities for improvement.
Providing ways for workers to participate in program evaluation and improvement.

Action items to accomplish the sixth step:

Action item 1: Monitor performance and progress

Action item 2: Verify the program is implemented and is operating

Action item 3: Correct program shortcomings and identify opportunities to improve

Be aware of bad audits. Never accept an auditor’s recommendations unless the recommendation can be established using a standard or an existing directive as a comparison. Opinions are, well, opinions.

One of the best kept secrets on the OSHA website is the OSHA Directive Library. An OSHA Directive is an internal document that is available to the public but was written as a guide for the OSHA Compliance Officer during an inspection. They can be an excellent source for creating an evaluation/audit.

Here are links to resources the organization should consider accomplishing this step:

OSHA Directives:https://www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/directivenumber/CPL

Welcome to the Safety Climate – Safety Management Information System (SC-SMIS) https://www.scsmis.com/

7. Communication and Coordination for Host Employers, Contractors, and Staffing Agencies

There must be a system for vetting subcontractors. If not, it can lead to OSHA citations

and expensive legal defenses. Past OSHA cases demonstrate how this can easily

happen if you do not have a process in place to ensure subcontractors have the skills and

experience to get the job done safely. Increasingly general contractors are using

online services to check the safety and OSHA history of subcontractors.

In today’s economy, an increasing number of workers are assigned by staffing agencies to work at specific host worksites under the direction and control of the host employer.

Examples include seasonal workers, such as delivery drivers and warehouse workers, who may be placed in both short- and long-term assignments. In these situations, it is important for the staffing agency and the host employer to communicate and coordinate to provide and maintain a safe work environment for their workers.

In other situations, some workers are employed by a host employer and others by a contractor or subcontractor.

Examples include electrical or mechanical contractors working in a facility, a vendor installing or maintaining equipment, or long-term contractors providing building cleaning and maintenance.

OSHA refers to these as “multi-employer” worksites. In these circumstances, it is important that each employer and contractor consider how its work and safety activities can affect the safety of other employers and workers at the site.

In both temporary worker and multiemployer situations, safety is enhanced if employers establish mechanisms to coordinate their efforts and communicate effectively to afford all workers equal protection against hazards. These mechanisms include measures to ensure that all workers on site (and their representatives) can participate in preventing injuries and illnesses.

Failure to take these steps may undermine safety programs. For example, if the different employers have inconsistent policies for when and where to wear personal protective equipment, workers may mistakenly believe that the equipment is not needed, leading to injury.

Inconsistent safety policies may also cause workers to question the credibility of safety and health programs, resulting in less meaningful employee engagement and participation.

Effective communication and coordination among such employers mean that, before coming on site, contractors and staffing agencies and their workers are aware of:

The types of hazards that may be present.
The procedures or measures they need to use to avoid or control their exposure to these hazards.
How to contact the host employer to report an injury, illness, or incident or if they have a safety concern.

It also means that host employers and their workers are aware of:

The types of hazards that may arise from the work being done on site by workers employed by contractors or staffing agencies.
The procedures or measures needed to avoid or control exposure to these hazards.
How to contact the contract or staffing firm if they have a safety concern.
What to do in case of an emergency.

Action items to accomplish the seventh step:

Action item 1: Establish effective communication

Action item 2: Establish effective coordination

Here are resources the organization should consider accomplishing this step:

Multi-Employer Policy 1999 https://www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/cpl-02-00-124

https://www.osha.gov/publications/bytopic/safety-and-health-programs

Temporary Employees: https://www.osha.gov/publications/bytopic/temporary-workers

Temporary Employees: https://www.osha.gov/temporaryworkers

Owners, managers, supervisors, and workers all need to understand the safety and health program’s structure and goals.

Having this knowledge and a plan to implement ensures that everyone can fully participate in the company’s safety and health workplace culture.

End of Simple But Not Easy.

Revamping Your Occupational Health and Safety Program: Simple but not Easy: Part 2

May 22, 2023 By John Cambre

Are you starting or revamping an occupational safety and health program? Well, here is some good advice: The steps are simple, but the process is not easy.

The new recommendations give employers an excellent blueprint on starting and maintaining an occupational safety and health program.

Source: https://www.osha.gov/safety-management

Here are the seven core steps:

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, Contractors, and Staffing Agencies

Part 2 Starts Here.

4. Hazard Prevention and Control

This is the job for the competent person.

A well trained and educated Competent Person! This is a person authorized by the company(employer) to take prompt corrective actions to address the hazards that the company found in step 3 (Hazard Identification and Assessment).

Effective controls protect workers from workplace hazards; help avoid injuries, illnesses, and incidents; minimize or eliminate safety and health risks; and help employers provide workers with safe and healthy working conditions. The processes described in this section will help employers prevent and control hazards identified in section 3.

To effectively control and prevent hazards, employers should:

Involve workers, who often have the best understanding of the conditions that create hazards and insights into how they can be controlled.
Identify and evaluate options for controlling hazards, using a “hierarchy of controls.” (See image below.)

Use a hazard control plan to guide the selection and implementation of controls and implement controls according to the plan.

Great app for paperless control plans: SiteDocs Safety Management Software

Develop plans with measures to protect workers during emergencies and non-routine activities.
Evaluate the effectiveness of existing controls to determine whether they continue to provide protection, or whether different controls may be more effective. Review recent technologies for their potential to be more protective, more dependable, or less costly.

Actions items to accomplish the fourth step.

Action item 1: Identify control options

Action item 2: Select controls

Action item 3: Develop and update a hazard control plan

Action item 4: Select controls to protect workers during nonroutine operations and emergencies

Action item 5: Implement selected controls in the workplace

Action item 6: Follow up to confirm that controls are effective

This implementation of controls along with the follow-up plan is so important. As with the rest of the steps, the organization must treat this plan as an ongoing commitment to improvement.

Here are four resources the organization should consider accomplishing this step:

CPWR | Hazard Alert Cards

CPWR | Toolbox Talks

CPWR Exposure Control Database (cpwrconstructionsolutions.org)

Solution | Job Hazard Analysis | Construction Solutions (cpwrconstructionsolutions.org)

5. Education and Training

Believe this: Education and training without management follow-up is useless!

Try answering this question: What is the difference between education and training?

Simply put, training is the policy and procedure while education is the why we do the policy and procedure. Education is the element that is very often missed.

Education and training are important tools for informing workers and managers about workplace hazards and controls so they can work more safely and be more productive.

Another role of education and training, however, is to provide workers and managers with a greater understanding of the safety and health program itself, so that they can contribute to its development and implementation.

Education and training provide employers, managers, supervisors, and workers with:

Knowledge and skills needed to do their work safely and avoid creating hazards that could place themselves or others at risk.
Awareness and understanding of workplace hazards and how to identify, report, and control them.
Specialized training when their work involves unique hazards.

Additional training may be needed depending on the roles assigned to employers or individual managers, supervisors, and workers.

For example, employers, managers, and supervisors may need specific training to ensure that they can fulfill their roles in providing leadership, direction, and resources for the safety and health program. Workers assigned specific roles in the program (e.g., incident investigation team members) may need training to ensure their full participation in those functions.

Effective training and education can be provided outside a formal classroom setting.

Peer-to-peer training, on-the-job training, and worksite demonstrations can be effective in conveying safety concepts, ensuring understanding of hazards and their controls, and promoting excellent work practices.

Action item 1: Provide program awareness training.

Action Item 2: Train employers, managers, and supervisors on their roles in the program.

Hint: Most organizations do not have an effective education and training program for front line supervisors.

Action item 3: Train workers on their specific roles in the safety and health program.

Action item 4: Train workers on hazard identification and controls.

Action item 1: Provide program awareness training.

Managers, supervisors, and workers all need to understand the program’s structure, plans, and procedures.

Having this knowledge ensures that everyone can fully participate in developing, implementing, and improving the program.

More resources:

Safety & Prevention | NIOSH | CDC

Stay tuned for Part 3.

Simple But Not Easy | Part 1

April 20, 2023 By John Cambre

Are you starting or revamping an occupational safety and health program? Well, here is some good advice: The steps are simple, but the process is not easy.

In November of 2016 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, issued an updated Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs. The last time OSHA issued recommendations for establishing a safety and health program was 1989.

The new recommendations give employers an excellent blueprint on starting and maintaining an occupational safety and health program.

“The Recommended Practices are designed to be used in a wide variety of small and medium-sized business settings. The Recommended Practices present a step-by-step approach to implementing a safety and health program, built around seven core elements that make up a successful program.”
Source: https://www.osha.gov/safety-management

Here are the seven core steps to start a safety program:

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, Contractors, and Staffing Agencies

1. Management Leadership

This is perhaps the most difficult step.

Management provides the leadership, vision, and resources needed to implement an effective safety and health program. Management leadership means that business owners, managers, and supervisors:

Make worker safety and health a core organizational value.
Are fully committed to eliminating hazards, protecting workers, and continuously improving workplace safety and health.
Provide sufficient resources to implement and maintain the safety and health program.
Visibly demonstrate and communicate their safety and health commitment to workers and others.
Set an example through their own actions.

Action Items to accomplish the first step.

Action item 1: Communicate your commitment to a safety and health program.
Action item 2: Define program goals.
Action item 3: Allocate resources.
Action item 4: Expect performance.
Action item 5: Communicate your commitment to a safety and health program.

A clear, written policy helps you communicate that safety and health is a primary organizational value –as important as productivity, profitability, product or service quality, and customer satisfaction.

2. Worker Participation

Workers need to be involved.

To be effective, any safety and health program needs the meaningful participation of workers and their representatives. Workers have much to gain from a successful program and the most to lose if the program fails. They also often know the most about potential hazards associated with their jobs. Successful programs tap into this knowledge base.

Worker participation means that workers are involved in establishing, operating, evaluating, and improving the safety and health program. All workers at a worksite should participate, including those employed by contractors, subcontractors, and temporary staffing agencies.

In an effective safety and health program, all workers:

Are encouraged to participate in the program and feel comfortable providing input and reporting safety or health concerns.
Have access to information they need to participate effectively in the program.
Have opportunities to participate in all phases of program design and implementation.
Do not experience retaliation when they raise safety and health concerns; report injuries, illnesses, and hazards; participate in the program; or exercise safety and health rights.

Action Items to accomplish the second step.

Action item 1: Encourage workers to participate in the program.
Action item 2: Encourage workers to report safety and health concerns.
Action item 3: Give workers access to safety and health information.
Action item 4: Involve workers in all aspects of the program.
Action item 5: Remove barriers to participation.

3. Hazard Identification and Assessment

Hazard recognition is a key component.

One of the “root causes” of workplace injuries, illnesses, and incidents is the failure to identify or recognize hazards that are present, or that could have been anticipated. A critical element of any effective safety and health program is a proactive, ongoing process to identify and assess such hazards.

To identify and assess hazards, employers, and workers:

Collect and review information about the hazards present or likely to be present in the workplace.
Conduct initial and periodic workplace inspections of the workplace to identify new or recurring hazards.
Investigate injuries, illnesses, incidents, and close calls/near misses to determine the underlying hazards, their causes, and safety and health program shortcomings.
Group similar incidents and identify trends in injuries, illnesses, and hazards reported.
Consider hazards associated with emergency or nonroutine situations.
Determine the severity and likelihood of incidents that could result for each hazard identified and use this information to prioritize corrective actions.

Some hazards, such as housekeeping and tripping hazards, can and should be fixed as they are found. Fixing hazards on the spot emphasizes the importance of safety and health and takes advantage of a safety leadership opportunity.

Action Items to accomplish the second step.

Action item 1: Collect existing information about workplace hazards.
Action item 2: Inspect the workplace for safety hazards.
Action item 3: Identify health hazards.
Action item 4: Conduct incident investigations.
Action item 5: Identify hazards associated with emergency and nonroutine situations.
Action item 6: Characterize the nature of identified hazards, identify interim control measures, and prioritize the hazards for control.

So, why is it not easy? One reason is that the value an organization puts on safety is rarely as important as the values an organization puts on cost, quality, and production.

Other critical barriers that make this process not so easy:

Labeling safety and health elements as “programs.” Safety programs, like television programs, have a start and finish.
A better alternative is to think of safety as a process versus a program.
Compliance with federal standards is important, but it’s not necessarily the answer. OSHA is under staffed and operates on a budget less than most federal agencies.
It seems that OSHA’s fundamental principle is “accidents are caused by things, not by people”.
We think of safety professionals as managers versus leaders of a process.

Stay tuned for Part 2.

Safety Job Search 2022

May 5, 2022 By John Cambre

With the pandemic seemingly coming to an end, there’s no doubt it’s brought a significant amount of strain to the majority of job markets. Layoffs and furloughs left people jobless and searching for a way to get back on their feet. Even without a global pandemic, it’s hard to get recruiters and employers to notice you. With an influx of job seekers, it’s even more difficult to stand out.

We put together a few suggestions and tips for those of you looking to land your next big job!

The Job Search

Before you get the job, you have to find a way to make recruiters notice you.

Update your resume. Many industrial labor jobs involve specialization. It is wise to make sure to include information about certifications for the following:

special equipment
machinery
vehicles
software applications or devices that are utilized in your industry or field.

These can be listed in a separate category on your resume or weaved into different descriptions of your work experiences. It is important that the recruiter knows you are qualified for the job you are applying for.

Don’t forget to emphasize your accomplishments. Working within an industry, you may not have access to specific numbers to showcase your growth. Often the inside jobs are about improving productivity, reducing costs, optimizing processes, and saving time. Think about your specific actions at previous jobs and how the result changed the bottom line. Include that action and result statement in your work experience section.

Your resume doesn’t have to be an artistic masterpiece, but you want to make sure that it is easy to read, and that important information can be found quickly. List your most recent work experience first with bullet points to describe job responsibilities and key areas of expert industry knowledge.

How to Land a Job Interview

You’ve got an interview and now what? We all know first impressions can be tough. Follow these tips to ensure success.

Polish up on your interview skills. In the industrial field, communication is key. Truthfully, no matter the job, communication is always essential, but it is the top priority when safety is involved. Over-communicating is always better than not saying anything at all. Effective communication shows you can verbally problem-solve with other team members. Having strong communication skills will lay the foundation for a successful interview and a successful career.

Show the recruiter what you know. Employers want to hire someone who has an interest and aptitude for the technology involved in their field. Conduct some research prior to the interview so that you have an idea of what you are experienced in from previous jobs, and even if you might not know the technology or equipment used, then show a great desire to learn it. The desire to learn new things can send employers a message that you have long-term potential.

Show up on time. If you are early, then you are on time. Arriving 15 minutes early to an interview, or a new job, is a good way to show your future employer that you are dependable. Industrial jobs can be large so there is minimal supervision. Supervisors need someone who is accountable and excels on with little oversight. Dependability is something to constantly strive for and is a trait that will carry you far in life and in your career.

Day 1 on the Job

Your search has come to an end and you landed a new job! Start your first day on the right foot.

Teamwork and kindness go hand-in-hand. People will always want to work with someone who is a team player. Don’t become that employee that no one wants to work with because you can’t learn how to solve a conflict in a respectful and calm manner. Small kindnesses, such as saying “Good morning”, can go a long way. Always be the employee to step up and offer help. These things can go a long way to promoting a productive work environment.

Be active and proactive. Do what you say you are going to do and take initiative. Make sure you know yourself and your strengths so you can accurately say when you are going to get things done. One of the most important things you can do as a valuable employee is follow through on work commitments. Get your tasks done in a timely manner, but make sure you aren’t sacrificing the quality of your work just to get things done. If you get your tasks done early, be proactive and take on additional responsibility. The willingness to take initiative shows employers that you are self-motivated and truly care about your work.

A proactive person also stays on top of their industry. Technology and equipment are constantly evolving so it is important to stay on top of what’s new. Knowing what you are doing and having the proper training are of the utmost importance to keep the job site safe and running smoothly.

Your perception is everything. If the job you have just landed is temporary or requires work that you don’t particularly like, adopt a positive attitude from the beginning. Looking at only the negatives in your work can decrease your productivity. Adopting an attitude of success ensures that you are actively working toward the goals your boss has set for you. These experiences can be steps toward great career growth.

Need help finding your next job? ResponsAble has the resources you’ve been looking for. Apply for our open job listings and use some of these helpful tips.