The Seven Core Elements

Introduction

Thousands of responsible employers have used OSHA’s 1989 Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines as a blueprint for setting up an effective safety and health program. OSHA has recently updated the Guidelines for Safety and Health Programs to reflect changes in the economy, workplaces, and evolving safety and health issues. The updated guidelines found in OSHA Publication 3855 – Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs is the primary reference for this course.

This is a good reference for updated OSHA guidelines.

The program model contains seven core elements:

• Management Leadership
• Worker Participation
• Hazard Identification and Assessment
• Hazard Prevention and Control
• Education and Training
• Program Evaluation
• Multi-employer Communication and Coordination

The seven core elements in a Safety and Health Management Program are interrelated and are best viewed as part of an integrated system. Actions taken under one core element can (and likely will) affect actions needed under one or more other elements. For example, workers must be trained in reporting procedures and hazard identification techniques to be effective participants. Thus, the "Education and Training" core element supports the “Worker Participation” core element. Progress in each core element is important to achieve maximum benefit from the program.

You will find implementing these recommended practices also brings other benefits. Safety and health programs help businesses:

• prevent workplace injuries and illnesses
• improve compliance with laws and regulations
• reduce costs, including significant reductions in workers' compensation premiums
• engage workers
• enhance their social responsibility goals
• increase productivity and enhance overall business operations

Quiz Instructions

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Management Leadership

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Management provides the leadership, vision, and resources needed to implement an effective safety and health program.

Management leadership means that business owners, managers, and supervisors do the following:

• They make safety a core value, rather than "prioritizing" safety. Why? Priorities have a habit of changing, especially when the going gets tough. On the other hand, values do not change; ever. Safety, as a value, is reflected in this statement: "Safe production or no production."
• They are fully committed to eliminating hazards, protecting workers, and continuously improving workplace safety and health.
• They provide sufficient resources (time, money, training, people) to implement and maintain the safety and health program.
• They visibly demonstrate and communicate their safety and health commitment to workers and others.
• They set an example through their own actions. If managers and supervisors do not set the best examples, we cannot expect it from employees.

Worker Participation

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To be effective, any safety and health program needs the meaningful participation of workers and their representatives.

Worker participation means workers are involved in establishing, operating, evaluating, and improving the safety and health program.

Here are some reasons why workers should participate in safety:

• Workers have much to gain from a successful program, and the most to lose, if the program fails.
• They often know the most about potential hazards associated with their jobs. Successful safety programs tap into this knowledge base.
• All workers at a worksite should participate, including those employed by contractors, subcontractors, and temporary staffing agencies.

Retaliation Against Workers is Illegal

Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for exercising a variety of rights guaranteed under the OSH Act, such as filing a safety and health complaint with OSHA, raising a health and safety concern with their employers, participating in an OSHA inspection, or reporting a work-related injury or illness. OSHA vigorously enforces the anti-retaliation protections provided under 11(c) of the OSH Act and other federal statutes. For more information, see www.whistleblowers.gov.

Hazard Identification and Assessment

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One of the "root causes" of workplace injuries, illnesses, and incidents is the failure to identify or recognize hazards that are present, or that could have been anticipated.

A critical element of any effective safety and health program is a "proactive," ongoing process to identify and assess such hazards. Hazard identification and assessment are proactive because they are processes that occur before someone gets hurt.

Effective hazard identification and assessment includes:

• Procedures are put in place to continually identify workplace hazards and evaluate risks.
• Safety and health hazards from routine, non-routine, and emergency situations are identified and assessed.
• An initial assessment of existing hazards, exposures, and control measures is followed by periodic inspections and reassessments, to identify new hazards.
• Non-injury incidents are investigated with the goal of identifying the root causes.
• Identified hazards are prioritized for control.

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Hazard Prevention and Control

Hazard prevention and control processes are conducted after hazards are identified and assessed. They help employers prevent existing and potential hazards and eliminate or otherwise control hazards in the workplace.

• Employers and workers cooperate to identify and select methods for eliminating, preventing, or controlling workplace hazards.
• Controls are selected per the “Hierarchy of Controls” that first try to eliminate hazards. To control hazards, engineering solutions, followed by safe work practices, administrative controls, and finally personal protective equipment (PPE) are used. We’ll discuss more on this topic later.
• A plan is developed to ensure controls are implemented, interim protection is provided, progress is tracked, and the effectiveness of controls is verified.

Effective hazard prevention and control methods protect workers and have the following benefits:

• Eliminate or reduce workplace hazards.
• Help avoid injuries, illnesses, and incidents.
• Minimize or eliminate safety and health risks.
• Help employers provide workers with safe and healthful working conditions.

Safety and Health Education

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Safety and health education, through general instruction and technical training, is important for informing workers and managers about workplace hazards and controls so they can work more safely and be more productive.

• General safety instruction tells employees why safety is important through lecture, videos, discussion, etc.
• Technical safety training shows them how to do the task or procedure safely. Technical training requires demonstration and practice to make sure workers gain the required skills to work safely. On-the-Job training (OJT) is one of the most effective methods used to teach and verify skills.

It is important to make sure both instruction and technical training are emphasized. If employees do not know why safety is important, they are less likely to care about how to work safely.

Safety and health education also provides workers and managers with a greater understanding of the safety and health program itself, so they can contribute to its development and implementation.

Effective safety and health education programs have the following characteristics:

• All workers are trained to understand how the program works and how to carry out the responsibilities assigned to them under the program.
• Employers, managers, and supervisors receive training on safety concepts and their responsibility for protecting workers’ rights and responding to workers’ reports and concerns.
• All workers are trained to recognize workplace hazards and to understand the control measures that have been implemented.

Program Evaluation and Improvement

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Once a safety and health program is established, it should be evaluated initially to verify it is being implemented as intended. Employers should periodically, which means at least annually, assess the program. Employers should assess what is and is not working, and whether the program is on track to achieve its goals.

Whenever these assessments identify opportunities to improve the program, management should adjust and monitor how well the program performs.

Sharing the results of monitoring and evaluation within the workplace, and celebrating successes, will help drive further improvement.

Effective program evaluation and improvement include the following characteristics:

• Leading indicators are used to analyze, evaluate, and improve programs.
• Control measures are periodically evaluated for effectiveness.
• Processes are established to monitor program performance, verify program implementation, and identify program shortcomings and opportunities for improvement.
• Necessary actions are taken to improve the program and overall safety and health performance.

Multi-employer Communication and Coordination

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In today’s economy, an increasing number of workers are assigned by staffing agencies to work at specific “host” worksites under the direction and control of the host employer.

Examples include seasonal workers, such as delivery drivers and warehouse workers, who help fill temporary staffing needs. In these situations, it is important for the staffing agency and the host employer to communicate and coordinate to provide and maintain a safe work environment for their workers.

In other situations, some workers are employed by a host employer and others by a contractor or subcontractor.

Examples include electrical or mechanical contractors working in a facility, a vendor installing or maintaining equipment, or long-term contractors providing building cleaning and maintenance. In these circumstances, it is important that each employer and contractor consider how its work and safety activities can affect the safety of other employers and workers at the site.

Characteristics of effective multi-employer communication and coordination include:

• Host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies commit to providing the same level of safety and health protection to all employees.
• Staffing agencies provide general safety education to temporary employees and host employers provide specific technical training for required tasks and procedures.
• Host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies communicate the hazards present at the worksite and the hazards that work of contract workers may create on site.
• Host employers establish specifications and qualifications for contractors and staffing agencies.
• Before beginning work, host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies coordinate on work planning and scheduling to identify and resolve any conflicts that could affect safety or health.

There are two different approaches to managing workplace safety and health.

Continuous Improvement

The seven program elements discussed in this module emphasize a proactive approach to managing workplace safety and health. Unfortunately, traditional approaches focus on a reactive approach. Let's look at the difference between the two approaches.

• A reactive approach: Traditional approaches are often reactive - that is, actions are taken only after a worker is injured or becomes sick, a new standard or regulation is published, or an outside inspection finds a problem that must be corrected.
• A proactive approach: Finding and fixing hazards before they cause injury or illness is a far more effective approach. Doing so avoids the direct and indirect costs of worker injuries and illnesses, and promotes a positive work environment.

The concept of continuous improvement is central to an effective safety and health culture and related programs. W. Edwards Deming championed a continuous improvement process became known as the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Cycle. We will take a closer look at this process in the next module.

The Benefits

Responsible employers know the main goal of a safety and health program is to prevent workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths, as well as the suffering and financial hardship these events can cause for workers, their families, and their employers.

Employers may find effectively implementing the best practices described in each of these core elements brings other benefits as well such as:

• There are improvements in product, process, and service quality.
• It creates higher workplace morale. If management cares, employees are more likely to care.
• It creates improved employee recruiting and retention.
• There is a more favorable image and reputation as an industry leader (among customers, suppliers, and the community).
• There is a better relationship with regulatory agencies. They will perceive the company as a "good player."

Check your Work

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