What is Occupational Health and Safety?

Keeping employees healthy and safe is a major responsibility for every company. Time and money spent on insuring a safe working environment results in fewer injuries, reduced workers compensation expense, and higher productivity. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the Department of Labor’s enforcement arm for workplace safety. OSHA provides guidelines to help companies assess risks, implement training programs, and monitor the safety of the workplace.

Why is Occupational Health and Safety important?

Occupational Health and Safety is vital to every business because it helps to ensure that employees stay healthy and safe while at work. All businesses, regardless of their industry, need to comply with the OSHA guidelines, which do vary by business. Safety training and safety compliance on the job can often mean the difference between life and death, depending on the type of business you are in.

There are different OSHA regulations for different types of businesses. For example, food services businesses have a certain set of OSHA regulations that they must follow, such as the regulation that employees must wash their hands before coming into work. Other businesses, such as a construction business, may be required to perform certain safety measures on a regular basis, such as equipment checks and even wearing the proper gear, such as helmets.

How should a vendor for Occupational Health and Safety compliance and training be selected?

OSHA will send an official to your place of work to ensure that your workplace is OSHA compliant. In addition, OSHA provides training free of cost to help businesses get compliant. At any time, an OSHA inspector may stop by your place of work to inspect the health and safety measures that you have in place. In the event that you do not meet OSHA standards, your business could be fined or even temporarily shut down.

In order to help your business get compliant with the OSHA regulations, you can not only work with an OSHA representative, but you can also hire a private consultant to help ensure that your business gets compliant with even the strictest OSHA regulations. These compliance inspectors may also provide training to your company and employees, which can not only be invaluable in terms of meeting the OSHA regulations, but it can also help to ensure that your workplace becomes and remains safe and healthy at all times.

When looking for an OSHA compliance and training contractor, consider the following conditions:

• What experience does the individual have in your industry? For example, does the individual specialize in construction worksites? Does the individual have experience with restaurants? Often, contractors will specialize in one industry or another, but perhaps not more than one.

• Can the individual meet with you as needed? It is important to work with a contractor that is not only available by phone or email to answer any questions that you have when you need those questions answered, but the individual will also need to come on-site to view your workplace when you need him or her to. If you ever think that there might be an issue of compliance, quick answers and remedies may solve the problem before you get fined.

• Does the individual have connections with health and safety compliance vendors? For example, if you require the right kind of construction helmets for your worksite, can the contractor suggest cost-effective vendors that can provide those helmets? Can the contractor get you a deal on those supplies?

• What is the cost per hour? Many contractors will provide a free consultation for their services before they start charging an hourly rate. Will you have to pay the contractor every time you pick up the phone to ask a question? Does the contractor require a retainer fee to be paid? Does the contractor charge more for on-site businesses?

• Does the contractor provide take-away materials for reference? For example, can the contractor provide you with an OSHA guidebook? Can the contractor provide hand-outs and materials to help ensure that you remember which regulations are important for your business? It's important to find a contractor that can customize his or her deliverables to meet your specific needs.

Additional Resources:

• Government Web site for OSHA:

http://www.osha.gov

• General information about OSHA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_Safety_and_Health_Administration

• OSHA training site:

http://www.free-training.com/osha/Soshamenu.htm