According to the OSHA Act every employer has a legal obligation to furnish employment (work) and a place of employment (workplace) free from known hazards that could cause serious injury or death. This course is designed to give you some ideas to help meet that obligation and apply effective management principles to the function of workplace safety. The ultimate goal is to help you understand these principles so that it affects your thinking, beliefs, decision and finally your actions to improve your company's safety management system and leadership culture.

• - Fatal work injuries in the private construction sector in 2008 declined by 20 percent from the updated 2007 total, twice the all-worker decline of 10 percent.
• Fatal workplace falls, which had risen to a series high in 2007, also declined by 20 percent in2008.
• Workplace suicides were up 28 percent to a series high of 251 cases in 2008, but workplace homicides declined 18 percent in 2008.
• The number and rate of fatal work injuries among 16 to 17 year-old workers were higher in 2008.
• Fatal occupational injuries involving Hispanic or Latino workers in 2008 were 17 percent lower than in 2007. Fatalities among non-Hispanic Black or African American workers were down 16 percent.
• The number of fatal workplace injuries in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations rose 6 percent in 2008 after declining in 2007.
• Transportation incidents, which accounted for approximately two-fifths of all the workplace fatalities in 2008, fell 13 percent from the previous series low of 2,351 cases reported in 2007.

Why should we emphasize workplace safety and health? Simple, it keeps people safe and healthful, and it decreases the long-term costs of doing business. But make sure your company is emphasizing accident prevention rather than loss control. Accident prevention is a proactive approach while loss control tends to be much more reactive. You'll learn more about this later. In safety and health, you can pay now or pay later. It's smart to pay for safety and health before an accident occurs. For every proactive dollar spent preventing workplace accidents, many more are saved in direct/indirect accident costs. For every reactive dollar spent on the direct costs of a worker's injury or illness, much more is spent to cover the indirect and unknown costs associated with the injury or illness. Read more on direct, indirect and unknown accident costs.

• Study the seven key elements of an effective safety and health program covered in this course, and come up with a plan to suit your individual workplace.
• Decide exactly what you want to accomplish, and determine what steps are necessary to achieve your goals.
• Some of the elements may already exist, needing only minor changes to make them more effective.
• Next, plan how and when each step will be carried out and who will do it. If your company has a safety committee, its members can be a great help in this effort.
• Put the plan in writing. It's smart to put your plan in writing so everyone can read it and get involved.

GO TO MODULE ONE