Essential elements of an effective safety & health program : (the guidelines) |
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These Safety and Health Program Guidelines were developed to provide a systematic approach to safety and health management. These Guidelines are not law, but they are highly recommended to employers as a road map for safety and health program planning. The following provides a summary of the Guidelines' main parts. The Safety and Health Program Guidelines can be divided into four main parts: • Management, Leadership, and Employee Involvement • Worksite Analysis • Hazard Prevention and Control • Safety and Health Training The Guidelines outline the way the Oklahoma Department of Labor (ODOL) sees each element functioning, and then provide recommendations for ways to put the particular part into action within an organization. 10/98 1.1 Essential Elements of an Effective Safety & Health Program (The Guidelines) This publication, printed by Heritage Press, El Reno, Oklahoma, is issued by the Oklahoma Department of Labor as authorized by Commissioner Brenda Reneau. Two thousand copies have been prepared and distributed at a cost of $50,228.46. Copies have been deposited with the Publication Clearinghouse of the Oklahoma Department of Labor. Management should provide leadership that encourages workers within an organization to par-ticipate in the programs that are offered by the company, in this case the safety and health pro-gram. According to the Guidelines, the elements of a safety and health program can be broken into the following components: • Having a Safety and Health Policy • Setting a Goal and Developing Objectives • Getting Top Management to Provide Visible Leadership • Getting Employees Involved • Assigning Responsibilities • Providing Adequate Authority • Giving and Receiving Accountability • Providing Program Evaluations Having a Safety and Health Policy State clearly a worksite policy on safe and healthful work and working condi- tions, so that all personnel with respon- sibility at the site and personnel at other locations with responsibility for the site understand the priority of safe- ty and health protection in relation to other organizational values. To have an effective safety and health program, there should be a written policy that is available to all worksite personnel. The policy should be writ-ten in a language that every worker can under-stand. This policy provides direction for the com-pany in the safety and well-being of the employ-ees, and should be supported from top manage-ment in the company. Setting a Goal and Developing Objectives Establish and communicate a goal for the safety and health program and objectives for meeting that goal, so that all members of the organization under- stand the results desired and the measures planned for achieving them. Once a policy is developed, management should set a goal for safety and health, then build objec-tives that will allow employees to reach the goal. The goal should be a realistic one, so as not to dis-courage employees from striving for the goal. Each employee should be able to see his or her work activities moving toward the goal, thus allowing him/her to meet the objectives. Getting Top Management to Provide Visible Leadership Provide visible top management lead- ership in implementing the program and ensure that all employees at the site are provided equally high quality safety and health protection, so that all will understand that management's commitment is serious. If it is perceived by employees that management fully supports and abides by the safety and health program, they are more likely to emphasize safety and health in their own work habits. Employees follow management's lead! 1.2 10/98 Management, Leadership and Employee Involvement Getting Employees Involved Provide for and encourage employee involvement in the structure and opera- tion of the program and in decisions that affect their safety and health, so that they will commit their insight and energy to achieving the safety and health program's goal and objectives. This does not take the responsibility of the safety and health of the worker from the employer. It does say that an employer should try to get the employees involved in the safety process. Involving employees in developing their work-place safety and health program is a good way to obtain buy-in for the program. Assigning of Responsibilities Assign and communicate responsibility for all aspects of the program, so that managers, supervisors, and employees in all parts of the organization know what performance is expected of them. Everyone should have some responsibility for safety and health in the workplace. It should be clearly understood by all employees what their responsibilities are in the workplace, and what dis-cipline will be forthcoming if failure to carry out these responsibilities should occur. The employer should try to base responsibility on the set objec-tives. This way everyone knows what the goal is, and will try to meet the objectives that were set. Giving people responsibility and accountability for their actions instills a good sense of pride, which will carry over in terms of wanting to have a good performance record. This leads to the next guide, that of authority. Providing Adequate Authority Provide adequate authority and resources to responsible parties, so that assigned responsibilities can be met. When an employee is given the responsibility to do something, the resources and authority to per-form that task should accompany it. The employer should provide all the tools necessary for the employee to be successful at his or her task. As employees within the organization grow, they will take on more responsibility if they feel manage-ment is backing them. Giving and Receiving Accountability Hold managers, supervisors, and employees accountable for meeting their responsibilities, so that essential tasks will be performed. As was previously mentioned, accountability for one's actions must accompany the responsibility given and the authority and resources provided. Holding employees accountable helps them see how important they are to the overall process within the company. Providing Program Evaluations Review program operations at least annually to evaluate their success in meeting the goal and objectives, so that deficiencies can be identified and the program and/or the objectives can be revised when they do not meet the goal of effective safety and health protec- tion. Once the safety and health program is in place, and all components are functioning, management needs to check on it from time to time to ensure its effec-tiveness. If the program is not working, the employer should determine why and try to resolve it. A successful safety and health program will pro-vide a sense of pride among employees, making them feel like they are accomplishing something. 10/98 1.3 Worksite analysis is a combination of systematic actions that provide the employer with the infor-mation necessary to recognize and understand the existing and potential hazards of the workplace. While these actions may appear complicated, they are really basic activities that are performed in most workplaces. The Guidelines see these actions as: • Comprehensive Hazard Identification • Regular Site Safety and Health Inspections • Employee Reports of Hazards • Accident/Incident Investigations • Injury and Illness Trend Analysis Comprehensive Hazard Identification So that all hazards are identified: Conduct comprehensive worksite sur- veys to establish safety and health haz- ard inventories and update the surveys periodically as expert understanding of hazards and the methods of control change; Analyze planned and new facilities, processes, materials, and equipment; and Perform routine hazard analysis of jobs, processes, and/or varied phases of work as needed. In order to design a program of prevention and control, an employer must have a comprehensive hazard survey, a change analysis, and a routine hazard analysis. The comprehensive hazard sur-vey is the most basic tool used to establish a pre-vention and control program. This survey should be performed on a periodic basis. The second component used to build a prevention control program is the change analysis. This analysis is conducted prior to a change in facili-ties, equipment, processes, or materials in the workplace. In this way, potential hazards can be identified before the change goes into effect. It will also provide a source of savings for the employer in that possible faulty designs can be located and changed before going into place. The last component of the comprehensive hazard identification is the routine hazard analysis. The most basic form of routine hazard analysis is the job safety analysis. This analysis divides a job into tasks and steps, then it allows for an analysis of potential hazards. A method of prevention and control can then be developed from the analysis that can eliminate the potential hazards. When dealing with complex hazardous chemical systems, a process hazard analysis is used. This analysis allows the complex system to be broken into its smallest elements, then the potential hazards are identified through each step of the process. 1.4 10/98 Worksite Analysis Regular Site Safety and Health Inspections Provide for regular site safety and health inspections, so that new, reoccur- ring, or previously missed hazards and failures in hazard controls are identi- fied. For each worksite a safety and health inspection should be performed on a regular basis. Employees at the worksite can be trained to per-form these inspections. The goal of performing this inspection will be to identify any controls that might have slipped since the routine analysis was performed. Employee Reports of Hazards So that employee insight and experi- ence in safety and health protection may be used and employee concerns addressed, provide a reliable system for employees, without fear of reprisal, to notify management personnel about conditions that appear hazardous and to receive timely and appropriate responses; and encourage the employ- ees to use the system The goal of any safety and health program is to identify and correct hazards before they become a problem and employees are harmed. The employer should use all employees as hazard look-outs. The goal is accident and illness pre-vention, and it should start with each person who enters the job site. Accident/Incident Investigations Provide for investigation of accidents and "near miss" incidents, so that their causes and the means for their preven- tion are identified. Unfortunately accidents happen. Employers should use accidents as learning tools by investi-gating them to determine the causes and then developing ways to avoid similar situations in the future. Injury and Illness Trend Analysis Analyze injury and illness trends over time, so that patterns with common causes can be identified and prevented. Tracking injuries and illnesses over periods of time can provide useful information for devising a prevention plan. The data may also point out problem areas that are missed by simple inspec-tions. 10/98 1.5 Once a list of hazards and potential hazards for the workplace has been produced, the prevention and control program can be designed. The program should consist of the following: • Appropriate Controls • Preventive Maintenance • Emergency Preparation • Medical Program Appropriate Controls So that all current and potential haz- ards, however detected, are eliminated or controlled in a timely manner, estab- lish procedures for that purpose, using the following measures: Engineering techniques where feasible and appropriate; Procedures for safe work which are understood and followed by all affect- ed parties, as a result of training, posi- tive reinforcement, correction of unsafe performance, and, if necessary, enforcement through a clearly commu- nicated disciplinary system; Provision of personal protective equip- ment; and Administrative controls, such as reduc- ing the duration of exposure. In designing the prevention and control program, the ideal situation would be to eliminate hazards or exposures that employees would encounter. Since this is not always possible, employers should use the best available methods for protect-ing employees. Engineering controls combined with good work practices can, for the most part, provide maximum protection for employees. The employer is responsible for providing whatever training is necessary to ensure that their employees know how to use the systems in place for protec-tion. Preventive Maintenance Provide for facility and equipment main- tenance, so that hazardous breakdown is prevented. This simply says that the employer should provide a good equipment maintenance program that will keep the in-place engineering controls operating as efficiently as possible. When equipment is not maintained properly, it can become hazardous. Emergency Preparation Plan and prepare for emergencies, and conduct training drills as needed, so that the response of all parties to emer- gencies will be "second nature." No safety and health program is complete without a plan for emergencies. Each employee should be trained in the emergency procedures of the work-place. For those who have special responsibilities during emergencies, additional training should be provided that will allow them to safely perform their duties. Working training drills in the activi-ties of the workplace will better prepare everyone should an emergency arise. Medical Program Establish a medical program which uses occupational health professionals in the analysis of hazards, early recognition and treatment of illness and injury, and limitation of the severity of harm; and which provides first aid and cardiopul- monary resuscitation (CPR) onsite and physician and emergency medical care nearby, so that harm will be minimized if an injury or illness does occur. Providing basic health care services onsite does not mean establishing a large department of doc-tors and nurses. Instead, most facilities have employees within their sites who can provide basic health care should an emergency situation arise. Employers should look for occupational health providers when putting together the health and safety program. For small agencies, the employer should try to arrange for health care through local clinics. The key to the medical program is to min-imize the time an injured person will have to wait before being properly treated. Training employees onsite in first aid and CPR provides agencies with a source of help during times of trouble. 1.6 10/98 Hazard Prevention and Control For an effective safety and health program, it is crucial that everyone at the workplace understands his role in the program, actively works to prevent and/or control hazards and potential hazards at the worksite, and knows ways he should protect him-self should a hazardous situation occur. A good safety and health program is achievable if the fol-lowing understand their roles and responsibilities within their group: • Employees • Supervisors • Managers Employees Ensure that all employees understand the hazards to which they may be exposed and how to prevent harm to themselves and others from exposure to these hazards, so that employees accept and follow established safety and health protection. Each employee should understand how important he is to the overall picture of safety and health, not only for his well-being, but for every worker involved. The employees need to know the gener-al safety and health rules, specific site hazards, safe work practices that are used to control expo-sure, and the role he is to play in an emergency situation. Supervisors So that supervisors will carry out their safety and health responsibilities effec- tively, ensure that they understand those responsibilities and the reasons for them, including: Analyzing the work under their super- vision to identify unrecognized poten- tial hazards; Maintaining physical protection in their work areas; and Reinforcing employee training on the nature of potential hazards in their work and on needed measures, through continual performance feed- back and, if necessary, through enforcement of safe work practices. Supervisors should be given special training in both safety and health and in leadership. Supervisors need to be attuned to the worksite and the potential for hazardous situations occurring in their areas. Supervisors need special training in maintenance in their work areas, as well as how to get their employees involved in controlling haz-ards. Managers Ensure the managers understand their safety and health responsibilities as described under "Management Leadership and Employee Involvement" so that managers will effectively carry out those responsibilities. It is necessary for a manager to have a good sys-tem of communication with the workers that are in his department. A manager must also understand his role in the safety and health program and set the leadership example for others to follow. The employer should use all available resources to help raise the level of awareness of managers. 10/98 1.7 Safety & Health Training Management Commitment and Leadership q Policy statement (goals established, issued, and communicated) q Program revised annually q Participation in safety meetings, inspections q Commitment of resources q Safety rules and procedures incorporated into site operations q Management observes safety rules Assignment of Responsibility q Safety designee on site, knowledgeable and accountable q Supervisors understand safety and health responsibilities q Employees adhere to safety rules Identification and Control of Hazards q Periodic site safety inspection program involving supervisors q Preventive controls in place (engineering controls, maintenance, PPE) q Action taken to address hazards q Safety committee established, where appropriate q Technical references available q Enforcement procedures by management Training and Education q Supervisors receive basic training q Specialized training provided when needed q Employee training program is in place and monitored to ensure effectiveness Recordkeeping and Hazard Analysis q Employee illness/injury records maintained, OK200 log summary posted in February q Supervisors perform accident investigations, determine causes and propose corrective action q Injuries, near misses, and illnesses are evaluated for trends and corrective action initiated First Aid and Medical Care q First aid supplies and medical service available q Employees informed of medical results q Emergency procedures established and training provided as necessary 1.8 10/98 Key Elements of a Safety & Health Program Management Leadership and Employee Involvement 4 Policy 4 Goal 4 Objectives 4 How visible and effective is management leadership 4 How effective is employee involvement in identifying safety and health problems and finding solutions 4 How clearly is responsibility for safety and health assigned 4 Are adequate authority and resources allocated to the program 4 Are responsible people held accountable Worksite Analysis 4 Have comprehensive surveys been done 4 Have pre-use analyses been done before purchase and installation of new equipment and materials and establishment of new processes 4 Are routine hazard analyses being done and used effectively 4 Are periodic site inspections being done as scheduled, and are the inspection personnel finding the hazards which exist 4 Is the system for employees to report hazards effective 4 Are all near-misses, incidents and accidents investigated effectively 4 Are the problems identified by the analyses being tracked to resolution Hazard Prevention and Control 4 Are engineering and work practice controls in place and effective 4 Is the availability, use and maintenance of PPE appropriate 4 Is the disciplinary system working well 4 Is the preventive maintenance system working well 4 Have emergency drills been conducted and critiqued 4 Is the medical program adequate and effective Training 4 Is appropriate training being conducted 4 Are employees learning what they should 4 Are training records easily accessible and complete 10/98 1.9 Annual Evaluation of Safety & Health Program Elements
Object Description
Description
Okla State Agency |
Labor, Oklahoma Department of |
Okla Agency Code |
'405' |
Title | Essential elements of an effective safety & health program : (the guidelines) |
Authors | Oklahoma. Department of Labor. |
Publication Date | 1999 |
Purpose | These Safety and Health Program Guidelines were developed to provide a systematic approach to safety and health management. These Guidelines are not law, but they are highly recommended to employers as a road map for safety and health program planning.; The Safety and Health Program Guidelines can be divided into four main parts: • Management, Leadership, and Employee Involvement • Worksite Analysis • Hazard Prevention and Control • Safety and Health Training; The Guidelines outline the way the Oklahoma Department of Labor (ODOL) sees each element functioning, and then provide recommendations for ways to put the particular part into action within an organization. |
Digital Format | PDF, Adobe Reader required |
ODL electronic copy | Downloaded from agency website: http://www.ok.gov/odol/documents/stee.pdf |
Rights and Permissions | This Oklahoma state government publication is provided for educational purposes under U.S. copyright law. Other usage requires permission of copyright holders. |
Language | English |
Full text | These Safety and Health Program Guidelines were developed to provide a systematic approach to safety and health management. These Guidelines are not law, but they are highly recommended to employers as a road map for safety and health program planning. The following provides a summary of the Guidelines' main parts. The Safety and Health Program Guidelines can be divided into four main parts: • Management, Leadership, and Employee Involvement • Worksite Analysis • Hazard Prevention and Control • Safety and Health Training The Guidelines outline the way the Oklahoma Department of Labor (ODOL) sees each element functioning, and then provide recommendations for ways to put the particular part into action within an organization. 10/98 1.1 Essential Elements of an Effective Safety & Health Program (The Guidelines) This publication, printed by Heritage Press, El Reno, Oklahoma, is issued by the Oklahoma Department of Labor as authorized by Commissioner Brenda Reneau. Two thousand copies have been prepared and distributed at a cost of $50,228.46. Copies have been deposited with the Publication Clearinghouse of the Oklahoma Department of Labor. Management should provide leadership that encourages workers within an organization to par-ticipate in the programs that are offered by the company, in this case the safety and health pro-gram. According to the Guidelines, the elements of a safety and health program can be broken into the following components: • Having a Safety and Health Policy • Setting a Goal and Developing Objectives • Getting Top Management to Provide Visible Leadership • Getting Employees Involved • Assigning Responsibilities • Providing Adequate Authority • Giving and Receiving Accountability • Providing Program Evaluations Having a Safety and Health Policy State clearly a worksite policy on safe and healthful work and working condi- tions, so that all personnel with respon- sibility at the site and personnel at other locations with responsibility for the site understand the priority of safe- ty and health protection in relation to other organizational values. To have an effective safety and health program, there should be a written policy that is available to all worksite personnel. The policy should be writ-ten in a language that every worker can under-stand. This policy provides direction for the com-pany in the safety and well-being of the employ-ees, and should be supported from top manage-ment in the company. Setting a Goal and Developing Objectives Establish and communicate a goal for the safety and health program and objectives for meeting that goal, so that all members of the organization under- stand the results desired and the measures planned for achieving them. Once a policy is developed, management should set a goal for safety and health, then build objec-tives that will allow employees to reach the goal. The goal should be a realistic one, so as not to dis-courage employees from striving for the goal. Each employee should be able to see his or her work activities moving toward the goal, thus allowing him/her to meet the objectives. Getting Top Management to Provide Visible Leadership Provide visible top management lead- ership in implementing the program and ensure that all employees at the site are provided equally high quality safety and health protection, so that all will understand that management's commitment is serious. If it is perceived by employees that management fully supports and abides by the safety and health program, they are more likely to emphasize safety and health in their own work habits. Employees follow management's lead! 1.2 10/98 Management, Leadership and Employee Involvement Getting Employees Involved Provide for and encourage employee involvement in the structure and opera- tion of the program and in decisions that affect their safety and health, so that they will commit their insight and energy to achieving the safety and health program's goal and objectives. This does not take the responsibility of the safety and health of the worker from the employer. It does say that an employer should try to get the employees involved in the safety process. Involving employees in developing their work-place safety and health program is a good way to obtain buy-in for the program. Assigning of Responsibilities Assign and communicate responsibility for all aspects of the program, so that managers, supervisors, and employees in all parts of the organization know what performance is expected of them. Everyone should have some responsibility for safety and health in the workplace. It should be clearly understood by all employees what their responsibilities are in the workplace, and what dis-cipline will be forthcoming if failure to carry out these responsibilities should occur. The employer should try to base responsibility on the set objec-tives. This way everyone knows what the goal is, and will try to meet the objectives that were set. Giving people responsibility and accountability for their actions instills a good sense of pride, which will carry over in terms of wanting to have a good performance record. This leads to the next guide, that of authority. Providing Adequate Authority Provide adequate authority and resources to responsible parties, so that assigned responsibilities can be met. When an employee is given the responsibility to do something, the resources and authority to per-form that task should accompany it. The employer should provide all the tools necessary for the employee to be successful at his or her task. As employees within the organization grow, they will take on more responsibility if they feel manage-ment is backing them. Giving and Receiving Accountability Hold managers, supervisors, and employees accountable for meeting their responsibilities, so that essential tasks will be performed. As was previously mentioned, accountability for one's actions must accompany the responsibility given and the authority and resources provided. Holding employees accountable helps them see how important they are to the overall process within the company. Providing Program Evaluations Review program operations at least annually to evaluate their success in meeting the goal and objectives, so that deficiencies can be identified and the program and/or the objectives can be revised when they do not meet the goal of effective safety and health protec- tion. Once the safety and health program is in place, and all components are functioning, management needs to check on it from time to time to ensure its effec-tiveness. If the program is not working, the employer should determine why and try to resolve it. A successful safety and health program will pro-vide a sense of pride among employees, making them feel like they are accomplishing something. 10/98 1.3 Worksite analysis is a combination of systematic actions that provide the employer with the infor-mation necessary to recognize and understand the existing and potential hazards of the workplace. While these actions may appear complicated, they are really basic activities that are performed in most workplaces. The Guidelines see these actions as: • Comprehensive Hazard Identification • Regular Site Safety and Health Inspections • Employee Reports of Hazards • Accident/Incident Investigations • Injury and Illness Trend Analysis Comprehensive Hazard Identification So that all hazards are identified: Conduct comprehensive worksite sur- veys to establish safety and health haz- ard inventories and update the surveys periodically as expert understanding of hazards and the methods of control change; Analyze planned and new facilities, processes, materials, and equipment; and Perform routine hazard analysis of jobs, processes, and/or varied phases of work as needed. In order to design a program of prevention and control, an employer must have a comprehensive hazard survey, a change analysis, and a routine hazard analysis. The comprehensive hazard sur-vey is the most basic tool used to establish a pre-vention and control program. This survey should be performed on a periodic basis. The second component used to build a prevention control program is the change analysis. This analysis is conducted prior to a change in facili-ties, equipment, processes, or materials in the workplace. In this way, potential hazards can be identified before the change goes into effect. It will also provide a source of savings for the employer in that possible faulty designs can be located and changed before going into place. The last component of the comprehensive hazard identification is the routine hazard analysis. The most basic form of routine hazard analysis is the job safety analysis. This analysis divides a job into tasks and steps, then it allows for an analysis of potential hazards. A method of prevention and control can then be developed from the analysis that can eliminate the potential hazards. When dealing with complex hazardous chemical systems, a process hazard analysis is used. This analysis allows the complex system to be broken into its smallest elements, then the potential hazards are identified through each step of the process. 1.4 10/98 Worksite Analysis Regular Site Safety and Health Inspections Provide for regular site safety and health inspections, so that new, reoccur- ring, or previously missed hazards and failures in hazard controls are identi- fied. For each worksite a safety and health inspection should be performed on a regular basis. Employees at the worksite can be trained to per-form these inspections. The goal of performing this inspection will be to identify any controls that might have slipped since the routine analysis was performed. Employee Reports of Hazards So that employee insight and experi- ence in safety and health protection may be used and employee concerns addressed, provide a reliable system for employees, without fear of reprisal, to notify management personnel about conditions that appear hazardous and to receive timely and appropriate responses; and encourage the employ- ees to use the system The goal of any safety and health program is to identify and correct hazards before they become a problem and employees are harmed. The employer should use all employees as hazard look-outs. The goal is accident and illness pre-vention, and it should start with each person who enters the job site. Accident/Incident Investigations Provide for investigation of accidents and "near miss" incidents, so that their causes and the means for their preven- tion are identified. Unfortunately accidents happen. Employers should use accidents as learning tools by investi-gating them to determine the causes and then developing ways to avoid similar situations in the future. Injury and Illness Trend Analysis Analyze injury and illness trends over time, so that patterns with common causes can be identified and prevented. Tracking injuries and illnesses over periods of time can provide useful information for devising a prevention plan. The data may also point out problem areas that are missed by simple inspec-tions. 10/98 1.5 Once a list of hazards and potential hazards for the workplace has been produced, the prevention and control program can be designed. The program should consist of the following: • Appropriate Controls • Preventive Maintenance • Emergency Preparation • Medical Program Appropriate Controls So that all current and potential haz- ards, however detected, are eliminated or controlled in a timely manner, estab- lish procedures for that purpose, using the following measures: Engineering techniques where feasible and appropriate; Procedures for safe work which are understood and followed by all affect- ed parties, as a result of training, posi- tive reinforcement, correction of unsafe performance, and, if necessary, enforcement through a clearly commu- nicated disciplinary system; Provision of personal protective equip- ment; and Administrative controls, such as reduc- ing the duration of exposure. In designing the prevention and control program, the ideal situation would be to eliminate hazards or exposures that employees would encounter. Since this is not always possible, employers should use the best available methods for protect-ing employees. Engineering controls combined with good work practices can, for the most part, provide maximum protection for employees. The employer is responsible for providing whatever training is necessary to ensure that their employees know how to use the systems in place for protec-tion. Preventive Maintenance Provide for facility and equipment main- tenance, so that hazardous breakdown is prevented. This simply says that the employer should provide a good equipment maintenance program that will keep the in-place engineering controls operating as efficiently as possible. When equipment is not maintained properly, it can become hazardous. Emergency Preparation Plan and prepare for emergencies, and conduct training drills as needed, so that the response of all parties to emer- gencies will be "second nature." No safety and health program is complete without a plan for emergencies. Each employee should be trained in the emergency procedures of the work-place. For those who have special responsibilities during emergencies, additional training should be provided that will allow them to safely perform their duties. Working training drills in the activi-ties of the workplace will better prepare everyone should an emergency arise. Medical Program Establish a medical program which uses occupational health professionals in the analysis of hazards, early recognition and treatment of illness and injury, and limitation of the severity of harm; and which provides first aid and cardiopul- monary resuscitation (CPR) onsite and physician and emergency medical care nearby, so that harm will be minimized if an injury or illness does occur. Providing basic health care services onsite does not mean establishing a large department of doc-tors and nurses. Instead, most facilities have employees within their sites who can provide basic health care should an emergency situation arise. Employers should look for occupational health providers when putting together the health and safety program. For small agencies, the employer should try to arrange for health care through local clinics. The key to the medical program is to min-imize the time an injured person will have to wait before being properly treated. Training employees onsite in first aid and CPR provides agencies with a source of help during times of trouble. 1.6 10/98 Hazard Prevention and Control For an effective safety and health program, it is crucial that everyone at the workplace understands his role in the program, actively works to prevent and/or control hazards and potential hazards at the worksite, and knows ways he should protect him-self should a hazardous situation occur. A good safety and health program is achievable if the fol-lowing understand their roles and responsibilities within their group: • Employees • Supervisors • Managers Employees Ensure that all employees understand the hazards to which they may be exposed and how to prevent harm to themselves and others from exposure to these hazards, so that employees accept and follow established safety and health protection. Each employee should understand how important he is to the overall picture of safety and health, not only for his well-being, but for every worker involved. The employees need to know the gener-al safety and health rules, specific site hazards, safe work practices that are used to control expo-sure, and the role he is to play in an emergency situation. Supervisors So that supervisors will carry out their safety and health responsibilities effec- tively, ensure that they understand those responsibilities and the reasons for them, including: Analyzing the work under their super- vision to identify unrecognized poten- tial hazards; Maintaining physical protection in their work areas; and Reinforcing employee training on the nature of potential hazards in their work and on needed measures, through continual performance feed- back and, if necessary, through enforcement of safe work practices. Supervisors should be given special training in both safety and health and in leadership. Supervisors need to be attuned to the worksite and the potential for hazardous situations occurring in their areas. Supervisors need special training in maintenance in their work areas, as well as how to get their employees involved in controlling haz-ards. Managers Ensure the managers understand their safety and health responsibilities as described under "Management Leadership and Employee Involvement" so that managers will effectively carry out those responsibilities. It is necessary for a manager to have a good sys-tem of communication with the workers that are in his department. A manager must also understand his role in the safety and health program and set the leadership example for others to follow. The employer should use all available resources to help raise the level of awareness of managers. 10/98 1.7 Safety & Health Training Management Commitment and Leadership q Policy statement (goals established, issued, and communicated) q Program revised annually q Participation in safety meetings, inspections q Commitment of resources q Safety rules and procedures incorporated into site operations q Management observes safety rules Assignment of Responsibility q Safety designee on site, knowledgeable and accountable q Supervisors understand safety and health responsibilities q Employees adhere to safety rules Identification and Control of Hazards q Periodic site safety inspection program involving supervisors q Preventive controls in place (engineering controls, maintenance, PPE) q Action taken to address hazards q Safety committee established, where appropriate q Technical references available q Enforcement procedures by management Training and Education q Supervisors receive basic training q Specialized training provided when needed q Employee training program is in place and monitored to ensure effectiveness Recordkeeping and Hazard Analysis q Employee illness/injury records maintained, OK200 log summary posted in February q Supervisors perform accident investigations, determine causes and propose corrective action q Injuries, near misses, and illnesses are evaluated for trends and corrective action initiated First Aid and Medical Care q First aid supplies and medical service available q Employees informed of medical results q Emergency procedures established and training provided as necessary 1.8 10/98 Key Elements of a Safety & Health Program Management Leadership and Employee Involvement 4 Policy 4 Goal 4 Objectives 4 How visible and effective is management leadership 4 How effective is employee involvement in identifying safety and health problems and finding solutions 4 How clearly is responsibility for safety and health assigned 4 Are adequate authority and resources allocated to the program 4 Are responsible people held accountable Worksite Analysis 4 Have comprehensive surveys been done 4 Have pre-use analyses been done before purchase and installation of new equipment and materials and establishment of new processes 4 Are routine hazard analyses being done and used effectively 4 Are periodic site inspections being done as scheduled, and are the inspection personnel finding the hazards which exist 4 Is the system for employees to report hazards effective 4 Are all near-misses, incidents and accidents investigated effectively 4 Are the problems identified by the analyses being tracked to resolution Hazard Prevention and Control 4 Are engineering and work practice controls in place and effective 4 Is the availability, use and maintenance of PPE appropriate 4 Is the disciplinary system working well 4 Is the preventive maintenance system working well 4 Have emergency drills been conducted and critiqued 4 Is the medical program adequate and effective Training 4 Is appropriate training being conducted 4 Are employees learning what they should 4 Are training records easily accessible and complete 10/98 1.9 Annual Evaluation of Safety & Health Program Elements |
Date created | 2012-08-17 |
Date modified | 2012-08-17 |
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