Osha Handbook For Small Businesses, Part 1

This booklet is being provided at cost to owners, proprietors, and managers of small businesses by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor. For a copy of this publication, write to the U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Washington, DC 20402, or call (202) 512-0000 for ordering information.

The handbook should assist small business employers to meet the legal requirements imposed by, and under, the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-956) and achieve an in-compliance status voluntarily prior to an inspection performed pursuant to the Act.

The materials in this handbook are based upon the federal OSHA standards and other requirements in effect at the time of publication, and upon generally accepted principles and activities within the job safety and health field.

This booklet is not intended to be a legal interpretation of the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 or to place any additional requirements on employers or employees.

The material presented herein will be useful to small business owners or managers and can be adapted easily to individual establishments.

All employers should be aware that there are certain states (and similar jurisdictions) which operate their own programs under agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor, pursuant to section 18 of the Act. The programs in these jurisdictions may differ in some details from the federal program.

Material contained in his publication is in the public domain and may be reproduced, fully or partially, without permission of the Federal Government. Source credit is requested but not required.

This information will be made available to sensory impaired individual upon request. Voice phone: (202) 219-8615;

TDD message referral phone: (800) 326-2577

Small business employers may have special problems in dealing with workplace safety and health hazards. Frequently, large corporations can afford the full-time services of safety engineers and industrial hygienists, whereas small firms often cannot.

Yet the workplace hazards that cause thousands of injuries and illnesses every year are as prevalent in small businesses as in larger firms. That is why we have prepared this handbook to help small business employers establish their own safety and health programs. This booklet advises employers on how to manage safety and health protection at their own work-sites, and tells how to obtain free, on-site consultations by safety and health professionals.

We at OSHA hope that each small business owner will recognize the value of positive, cooperative action-among employers, employees, and government- to provide safe and healthful workplaces throughout the nation.

Tell us what you think, how our advice can be improved, or anything else we can do to help you in this vital effort.

CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION

II. A FOUR-POINT WORKPLACE PROGRAM

III. STARTING YOUR VOLUNTARY ACTIVITY

IV. SELF-INSPECTION.

V. ASSISTANCE IN PROBLEM SOLVING

As a small business owner, you are characteristically a risk taker. You wager your business acumen against larger, perhaps more heavily financed corporate groups and other free-spirited, self-employed individuals like yourself. There is excitement and challenge in such a venture. But to succeed, you need good management information, an ability to be a good manager of people, and the intelligence and inner strength both to make decisions.

Thousands of workers die each year, and many, many more suffer injury or illness from conditions at work. But how often does an owner or manager like you actually see or even hear about work-related deaths, serious injuries, or illnesses in the businesses with which you are familiar? How often has your business actually sustained this type of loss?

In most small businesses, the answer is rarely. For this reason, many owners/managers do not understand why there is controversy about OSHA, job safety, and health standards, inspections, citations, etc.

But others have learned why. Unfortunately, they have had to go through the kind of loss we are talking about. And these owner/managers will tell you that it is too late to do anything once a serious accident happens. They now know that prevention is the only real way to avoid this loss.

Reducing all losses is a goal that you as an owner or manager clearly share with us in OSHA. Each of us may see this goal in a slightly different light, but it remains our common intent.

We have learned from small employers, like you, that you place a high value on the health and well-being of your employees. Like many small businesses, you probably employ family members and personal acquaintances. And, if you don't know your employees before they are hired, then chances are that the very size of your work group and workplace will promote the closeness and concern for one another that small businesses value.

Assuming that your commitment to safe and healthful work practices is a given ingredient, we in OSHA want to work with you to prevent all losses. We believe that, when you make job safety and health a real part of your everyday operations, you cannot lose in the long run.

Successful safety and health activity now will enable you to avoid possible losses in the future.

Many people confuse the idea of "accidents" with the notion of Acts of God. The difference is clear. Floods and tornadoes cannot be prevented by the owner or manager of small business. But workplace accidents can be prevented; and indeed floods and tornadoes can be anticipated and prepared for.

Nobody wants accidents to happen in his or her business. A serious fire or the death of an employee or an owner can cause the loss of a great amount of profit or, in some cases, even an entire business. To prevent such losses, you don't have to turn your place upside down. You may only need to use good business sense and to apply recognized prevention principles.

There are reasons why accidents happen. Something goes wrong somewhere. It may take some thought, and maybe the help of friends or other trained people, to figure out what went wrong, but there will be a cause-a reason why. Once you know the cause, it is possible to prevent an accident. You need some basic facts, and perhaps some help from others who know some of the answers already. You also need a plan-a plan for preventing accidents.

Not all danger at your worksite depends on an accident to cause harm, of course. Worker exposure to toxic chemicals or harmful levels of noise or radiation may happen in conjunction with routine work as well as by accident. You may not realize the extent of the exposure on the part of you and/or your employees, or of the harm that may result. The effect may not appear immediately, but it may be fatal in the long run. You need a plan that includes prevention of these "health hazard exposures" as well as accidents. You need a safety and health protection plan.

It is not a difficult task to develop such a plan. Basically, you only need to concern yourself with those types of accidents and health hazard exposures which could happen in your workplace.

Because each workplace is different, your program may be different from one that your neighbor or your competitor might use. But this is not important. You want it to reflect your way of doing business, not theirs.

While the details may vary, there are four basic elements that are always found in workplaces with a good accident prevention program. These are as follows:

Regardless of the size of your business, you should use each of these elements to prevent workplace accidents and possible injuries and illnesses.

Developing a workplace program following these four points should lead you to do all the things needed to protect you and your workers' safety and health. If you already have a program, reviewing it in relation to these elements should help you improve what you have.

If you follow this four-point approach to safety and health protection, your business should also improve its efficiency. It may help you reduce insurance claims and other costs. While it does not guarantee complete compliance with OSHA standards, the approach will help you toward full compliance and beyond. It will certainly give you a way to express and document your good faith.

This approach usually does not involve large costs. Especially in smaller businesses, it generally does not require additional employees. Usually, it can be integrated into your other business functions with modest effort on your part.

The key to the success of this plan is to see it as a part of your business operation and to see it reflected in all your work. As you continue doing it, the program becomes easier. it becomes built-in and then you need only check on it periodically to be sure everything's working well.

In Section 2, we give short titles for each of the elements and then give short descriptions and illustrations for each. Since most employers, like you, are pressed for time, these descriptions are capsules of information to assist you in thinking through and getting started only your own approach.

The Four-Point Workplace Program described here is based upon the Safety and Health Management Guidelines issued by OSHA on January 26, 1989. Although voluntary, these guidelines represent OSHA's policy on what every worksite should have in place to protect workers from occupational hazards. The guidelines are based heavily on OSHA's experience with the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP). These voluntary programs are designed to recognize and promote effective safety and health management as the best means of ensuring a safe and healthful workplace.

As you go through this section and those that follow, jot down the actions that you wish to take to help make your workplace safer and more healthful for your employees. Noting those actions as you go along will make it much easier for you to assemble the total plan you nee.

As the owner or manager of small business, your attitude towards job safety and health will be reflected by your employees. If you are not interested in preventing employee injury and illness, nobody else is likely to be.

At all times, demonstrate your personal concern for employee safety and health and the priority you place on them in your workplace. Your policy must be clearly set. Only you can show its importance through your own actions.

Demonstrate to your employees the depth of your commitment by involving them in planning and carrying out your efforts. If you seriously involve your employees in identifying and resolving safety and health problems, they will commit their unique insights and energy to helping achieve the goal and objectives of your program.

Consider forming a joint employee-management safety committee. This can assist you in starting a program and will help maintain interest in the program once it is operating. Committees can be an excellent way of communicating safety and health information. If you have few employees, consider rotating them so that all can have an active part in the safety and health programming. The men and women who work for you are among the most valuable assets you have. Their safety, health, and good will are essential to the success of your business. Having them cooperate with you in protecting their safety and health not only helps to keep them healthy-it makes your job easier.

As a small business employer you have inherent advantages, such as close contact with your employees, a specific acquaintance with the problems of the whole business, and usually a low worker turnover. Most likely, you have already developed a personal relationship of loyalty and cooperation that can be built up very easily. These advantages may not only increase your concern for your employees but also may make it easier to get their help.

Here are some actions to take:

• Post your own policy on the importance of worker safety and health next to the OSHA workplace poster where all employees can see it.
• Hold a meeting with all your employees to communicate that policy to them and to discuss your objectives for safety and health for the rest of the year. (These objectives will result from the decisions you make about changes you think are needed after you finish reading this publication.)
• Make sure that support from the top is visible by taking an active part, personally, in the activities that are part of your safety and health program. For example, personally review all inspection and accident reports to ensure followup when needed.
• Ensure that you, your managers, and supervisors follow all safety requirements that employees must follow, even if you are only in their area briefly. If, for instance, you require a hard hat, safety glasses, and/or safety shoes in an area, wear them yourself when you are in that area.
• Use your employees' special knowledge and help them buy into the program by having them make inspections, put on safety training, and/or help to investigate accidents.
• Make clear assignments of responsibility for every part of the program that you develop. Make certain everyone understands them. The more people involved, the better. A good rule of thumb is to assign safety and health responsibilities in the same way you assign production responsibilities. Make it a special part of everyone's job to operate safely. That way, as you grow and disperse production responsibilities more widely, you will disperse safety and health responsibilities with them.
• Give those with responsibility enough people, on-the-clock time, training money, and authority to get the job done.
• Don't forget about it after you make assignments, make sure personally that they get the job done. Recognize and reward those who do well, and correct those who don't.
• Take time, at least annually, to review what you have accomplished against what you set as your objectives and decide if you need new objectives of program revisions to get where you want to be.

It is your responsibility to know what you have in your workplace that could hurt your workers. Work site analysis is a group of processes that helps you make sure that you know what you need to keep your workers safe. You may need help in getting started with these processes. You can call on your Consultation Program for this help. Once you get everything set up, you or your employees can do many of them.

Here are some actions to take:

• Request a consultation visit from your state Consultation Program covering both safety and health to get a full survey of the hazards which exist in your workplace and those which could develop. (You can also contract for such services from expert private consultants if you prefer.)
• Set up a way to get expert help when you make changes to be sure that the changes are not introducing new hazards into your workplace. Also, find ways to keep current on newly recognized hazards in your industry.
• Make an assignment (maybe to teams that include employees) to look carefully at each job from time to time, taking it apart step-by-step to see if there are any hidden hazards in the equipment or procedures. Some training may be necessary at the start.
• Set up a system of checking to make sure that your hazard controls haven't failed and that new hazards haven't appeared. This is usually done by routine self-inspections. You can use the checklist in Section IV of this book as a starting point. Add items to it that better fit your situation. Subtract from it those items that do not fit your situation. Your state consultant can probably assist you to establish an effective system.
• Provide a way for your employees to let you or another member of management know when they see things that look harmful to them and encourage them to use it.
• Learn how to do a thorough investigation when things do go wrong and someone gets sick or hurt. This will help you find ways to prevent recurrences.
• Initially, take the time to look back over several years of injury or illness experience to identify patterns that can lead to further prevention. Thereafter, periodically look back over several months of experience to determine if any new patterns are developing.

Once you know what your hazards and potential hazards are, you are ready to put in place the systems that prevent or control those hazards. Your state consultant can help you do this. Whenever possible, you will want to eliminate those hazards. Sometimes, that can be done through substitution of a less toxic material or through engineering controls that can be built in. When you cannot eliminate hazards, systems should be set up to control them.

Here are some actions to take:

• Set up safe work procedures, based on the analysis of the hazards in your employees' jobs (discussed above), and make sure that the employees doing each job understand the procedures and follow them. This may be easier if employees are involved in the analysis that results in those procedures.
• Be ready, if necessary, to enforce the rules for safe work procedures by asking your employees to help you set up a disciplinary system that will be fair and understood by everyone.
• Where necessary to protect your employees, provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and be sure your employees know why they need it, how to use it, and how to maintain it.
• Provide for regular equipment maintenance to prevent breakdowns that can create hazards.
• Plan for emergencies, including fire and natural disasters, and drill everyone frequently enough so that if the real thing happens, everyone will know what to do even under stressful conditions.
• Ask your state consultant to help you develop a medical program that fits your work site and involves nearby doctors and emergency facilities. Invite these medical personnel to visit the plant before emergencies occur and help you plan the best way to avoid injuries and illness during emergency situations.
• You must ensure the ready availability of medical personnel for advice and consultation on matters of employee health. This does not mean that you must provide health care. But, i