Job site safety must be a contractor’s top priority. Work-related injuries increase an employer’s costs through fines, increased insurance premiums, and lost time. If there’s a major incident, the employer can also face legal battles and damaged business relationships.
Since contractors have the ultimate responsibility for workplace safety, the best protection is to follow all prescribed standards. Contractors can take a proactive safety approach, committing their safety values into a health and safety program based on the Occupational Safety and Health Organization (OSHA) regulations.
By developing and enforcing robust health and safety policies, the OSHA regulations can protect contractors from work-related injury risks by:
Here are a few specific examples of how OSHA regulations can protect a contractor from work-related injury.
OSHA standard 1926 outlines the requirements for working at heights and fall protection. Every contractor has a duty to provide fall protection for their workers, and with good reason. Falls are one of the most common causes of serious work-related injury and death. Although fall protection equipment stops an employee from dropping onto a hazard, the fall arrest system itself is not without risks. The best way contractors can protect themselves from work-related falls is to ensure workers don’t fall in the first place.
OSHA fall protection regulations state employers must provide barriers around open holes, and guardrails around open, elevated platforms. These same guardrails must be in place if a worker is performing their duties over a hazard, such as machinery. Specific heights require a full fall arrest system.
By ensuring your employees are properly trained and following up to make sure the standards are being met on the job site, you can prevent fall-related injuries from happening.
This is one of the easiest OSHA regulations to meet, but one of the most overlooked: you must tell your employees about all the hazardous chemicals on a job site. OSHA updated this standard so that workers not only have the right to know about the chemicals they work with, but also the right to understand how they work and what the risks are.
Chemical injuries include poisoning, burns, blindness, lung damage, neurological problems, and cancer. These injuries can be eliminated by telling your employees about the chemicals they are working with, how to use them, and what PPE they must wear when performing their duties.
In addition to informing and training employees, contractors must provide manufacturer labels on all products and maintain up-to-date safety data sheets.
Every activity from basic job site cleaning, to required heavy equipment construction certifications, to dangerous demolition has its own standards. OSHA enforces the regulations by prioritizing “Imminent danger situations” and major incidents like severe injuries or death. There is also a strong mechanism for worker’s rights, so OSHA also prioritizes worker complaints, resulting in unannounced compliance audits.
These situations show a contractor did not have or enforce OSHA regulations in their own safety programs. The resulting losses from not protecting yourself from work-related injuries doesn’t make financial sense when the requirements are readily available and actionable. This is a case where minimizing risk offers the greatest reward.
It’s clear from these few examples that OSHA’s requirements for health and safety keep the worker injury-free, but also protect the contractor from work-related injuries and the associated costs. Using OSHA’s guidance to create your safety policies protects your bottom line.
It can be overwhelming to develop a system that incorporates the comprehensive OSHA standards. But a contractor who puts together solid health and safety policies can prevent work-related injuries and minimize risks. If you’re ready to protect your business, contact SafetyPro Resources to develop your safety systems today.