Managing accidents ...........................................................................
Beyond your company’s obligation to guarantee the well-being of your
workers, you want to reduce your accident count to a minimum — preferably
zero — if only because doing so reduces costs. As a result, your concern with
accident statistics and their analysis is crucial. Not only do you need to
record and report accidents that have happened, but you also must account
for every near miss — episodes in which no one was harmed, but could have
been. And when you analyze data for both accidents and near misses, you
can produce more effective and informative accident reports.180 Part III: Going Green
OSHA
The goal of folks over at the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) is to ensure
the safety and health of employees in the United
States by working with them and their employers
to create better working environments.
According to their statistics, in 2005 there were
4.2 million occupational injuries and illnesses
among U.S. employees. Breaking it down,
approximately 4.6 of every 100 employees expe-
rienced a job-related injury or illness, and in
2006, 5,703 employees lost their lives on the job.Clearly, it’s a good thing we have these guys
around: Believe it or not, they have made a dif-
ference! Over four million injuries and nearly
6,000 deaths may seem like a lot, but it could have
been much, much worse. Since its inception in
1971, OSHA has helped to cut workplace fatalities
by more than 60 percent and occupational injury
and illness rates by 40 percent. At the same time,
U.S. employment has increased from 56 million
employees at 3.5 million worksites to more than
135 million employees at 8.9 million sites.
OSHA’s top priority is getting reports of imminent
dangers. Second on the list are fatalities or acci-
dents serious enough to send three or more
employees to the hospital. The third-level priority
derives from employee complaints, while refer-
rals from other government agencies come
fourth. Fifth are targeted inspections, such as theSite Specific Targeting Program, which focuses
on employers that report high injury and illness
rates, along with special emphasis programs that
zero in on hazardous work and equipment.
Follow-up inspections are the final priority.
OSHA has the last word concerning health and
safety laws of the land. From Dow Chemical,
DHL, and UPS to AAA, Martinizing Dry Cleaning,
and the local mom-and-pop news stand, all
businesses great and small must comply with
the legislation over which OSHA presides. If you
don’t play by the rules, you’re liable to get hurt.
OSHA cuffs violators with penalties ranging up
to $70,000, depending on how likely the violation
is to result in serious harm to employees.One of these rules concerns employee rights.
Every business owner must post a federal or
state OSHA poster to provide their employees
with information about their safety and health
rights. To speak with a compliance assistance
specialist about training and education in job
safety and health issues, you can contact the
OSHA office nearest you. OSHA also provides
businesses with an interactive training applica-
tion that “walks” users through specific OSHA
standards and helps them to identify potential
hazards throughout a given workplace. You can
also find information on specific topics by visit-
ing the OSHA Web site (www.osha.gov).