Repeat After Me: OSHA Can Be a Good Thing
The Occupational Safety Administration should be seen as a partner in the workplace, not an adversary
By Robert Nizzi What is OSHA?
We all sometimes grumble about having to do something that is actually very good for us. Such is the relationship many employers have with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). As a division of the Department of Labor, OSHA’s mission is “to ensure employee safety and health in the United States by working with employers and employees to create better working environments.”
A noble endeavor, but is it working, or is it just a mass of red tape? Well, since the agency was created in 1971, U.S. occupational deaths have been cut by 62 percent and injuries have declined by 42 percent. Clearly, worksites have gotten safer. Who Must Comply with OSHA?
While 24 states have their own OSHA-approved safety and health programs, Kansas and Missouri do not, so this article will focus directly on the federal requirements. All employers must post the federal OSHA poster to provide their employees with information on their safety and health rights. You can request a poster from your business insurance broker or you can order a printed copy from the OSHA Publications Office at (800) 321-OSHA. You also can download and print one from www.osha.gov.
Your business is exempt from most recordkeeping requirements if: - You have 10 or fewer employees
- You work in a low-hazard industry, such as retail, service, finance, insurance or real estate. (You can see if your business is partially exempt by checking your SIC code against the list on the OSHA Web site.)
Even if your business is partially exempt, you must report to OSHA any workplace incident that results in a fatality or the hospitalization of three or more employees. Also keep in mind that if one or more of your company’s establishments are classified in a non-exempt industry, you must keep OSHA injury and illness records for all of your establishments unless your company is partially exempted because of size. What Do You Have to Do?
For companies with more than 10 employees and not on the low hazard list, the OSHA record-keeping program has five steps: - Obtain a report on every injury or job-related illness requiring medical treatment (other than basic first aid).
- Record each injury or job-related illness on OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses).
- Prepare a supplementary record of occupational injuries and illnesses for recordable cases on OSHA Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report).
- Every year, prepare an annual summary using OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses). Post it in the workplace no later than Feb. 1, and keep it posted until May 1. A good place to post it is next to the OSHA Workplace Poster.
- Retain these records for at least five years.
OSHA recordable incidents must be logged for each of your company’s physical locations. Your insurance broker should be able to supply you with a template for tracking your OSHA recordable incidents (Form 300), as well as instructions on how to use it. While there are some situations where an incident that triggers a workers’ compensation claim is not an OSHA incident, such as those involving temporary workers, you should get in the habit of taking down all the details of each incident as they happen and worry later about whether it’s OSHA recordable. Your broker can help you ultimately determine whether the incident needs to be recorded.
There also are online tools you can use to track your OSHA events, which automatically provide the Form 300A report summaries that you need to post. These tools also can prepare the current report that an OSHA inspector will ask to see should you be targeted for an inspection. These easy-to-use tools can save you a lot of time, and they potentially can save you money (should you become subject to penalties) by showing OSHA that you took “good faith” steps in tracking your incidents. Ask your broker if he or she can provide you with access to these tools. OSHA Inspections
You might think, “Hey! I’m a nice person, I run a good company, why would OSHA want to inspect me?”
When you submit the Form 300A summary, OSHA takes your incident rate (based on total hours worked by employees and total number of incidents) and compares it to other companies in your industry, as determined by SIC code. If your rate is unusually high, you may be selected for an inspection. The best way to avoid an inspection is to aggressively address safety in the workplace. Your broker should help you identify ways to promote safety and to reduce your risk. If you can get your incident rate under the national average, you’ll: - Avoid OSHA penalties, which can be as high as $70,000 for serious violations
- Save money on your workers’ compensation claims and insurance rates
- Raise employee morale and reduce turnover
OSHA also provides plenty of free safety and compliance advice on its Web site. The key is to change your mindset from, “Omigosh! How can I avoid OSHA?” to “How can I work with OSHA to make my workplace a safe area for my employees?”
Robert Nizzi is a president of risk services with Power Group Companies, a full-service insurance brokerage located in Overland Park. Robert is the leader of the Risk Services division. You can reach him at (913) 491-3280 or www.pgcompanies.com.
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