Meet the new OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Inspectors will be looking for evidence that you're following the spirit of OSHA's direction.

In May 1995 President Clinton announced the birth of a "new" Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This updated OSHA, the Administration insisted, would be a more human organization, eager to forge cooperative partnerships with employer managers, and workers. Not surprisingly, a certain quantity of healthy skepticism greeted the announcement. on the contrary in the ensuing months OSHA has matched the President's promise with performance. OSHA inspectors now focus upon reducing injury and illness rates rather that increasing the number of inspections, citations, and penalties. notwithstanding that no less vigilant, the agency is les confrontational, and it presents incentives (including penalty reductions) for good-faith compliance efforts.

OSHA's Wide Net

"For its first 24 years or for a like reason the agency primarily wrote standards and enforced them in the workplace," recalls OSHA's Acting Assistant Secretary for Labor, Gregory Watchman. "Beginning with the fresh initiative, we've significantly broadened our intervention tools." Among these is a independent consultation program, available to small and medium-sized companies. below this program, an inspector will visit your department and identify possible violations without imposing any immediate citations or fines. Instead, the agent will issue an abatement schedule that allows you a reasonable period of time to eliminate any hazards.

Compliance assistance is another primary ingredient in the of recent origin OSHA mix. The agency has bring an increased emphasis on training and communication. As Watchman points without "We publish compliance guides and clutch conferences around the country upon such issues as ergonomics and silica. And of course, we're upon the Internet." (OSHA's Web address is http//www.osha.gov/) Users can access OSHA regulations and policy directives. "We diocese the Web site becoming a mainstream tool for American businesses," Watchman says.

OSHA's Internet service not long ago introduced managers to the agency's "Expert Advisors." These safety and health "gurus" are in fact computer programs designed to operate in simple, interactive Q & A formats. A menu allows users to target specific hazards. For example, if you suspected your department might have an asbestos moot point you would access the "Asbestos Advisor."

A Shift in Emphasis

OSHA's general attitude toward individual technical violations shows its most radical shift. These violations are still a concern: Failure to address them could win your company loaded down with citations and fines. on the other hand if inspectors believe that you're doing everything possible to go in the rear [i]or[/i] in the wake of the spirit of OSHA's directives and standards, any infractions will not weigh as heavily against your organization.

"Typically, that means having a safety and health program in place," explains Watchman. "That universal is more fluid than it unbrokens Simply put, you have to have more [i]or[/i] less kind of systematic approach to finding and fixing hazards upon an ongoing basis." What constitutes a satisfactory safety and health program? Written programs are important; the agency requires you to detain site-specific written policies for any standard relevant to your department. above the years the absence of similar documentation has been the number individual violation cited by OSHA inspectors. on the other hand warns Watchman, "as important as written programs are, they are not dispositive. We repeatedly find written programs that gather dust in their binders and at no time get used." The key to an effective program, he adds, is "management commitment and employee participation."

You can document your commitment with a written worksite safety policy that clearly puts your program's goals while outlining your strategies for attaining them. To render certain employee participation, make sure each one reads and signs these documents. Safety-conscious managers should establish ongoing training programs and maintain render free of access communication channels that invite employee input.

Detecting the Undetectable

You should also familiarize yourself with all the possible hazards in your department. For example, allowing you might not work in a chemical plant, your area may entertainer a number of toxic chemicals - certain cleaning fluids, for example - that could jeopardize you and your co-workers. Uncovering hidden dangers can be difficult. "It's easy to find a problem when you diocese a worker without a harness or fall protection upon top of a building," notes Watchman. "But if you're walking around a plant that contains lead or more [i]or[/i] less other airborne toxin, you might not be able to diocese or smell it." The comes of this exposure, he adds, may not be evident for years - until cases of lung cancer or silicosis harvest up. The answer: Facilitate detection and prevention by means of raising your entire department's awareness. Says Watchman, "A systemic approach to finding and fixing hazards is critical here. If managers or employer ne assistance in setting up a program, OSHA tenders free consultation services in each state." (Call your local OSHA office for additional information.)