A hazard assessment process can help your company avoid and control risks. Your safety program should include:
An annual comprehensive safety and health program audit, and regular reviews by people qualified to recognize existing hazards and potentially significant risks. This can be done by in-house staff, or by a third-party safety professional.
A reliable procedure that allows employees to report possibly hazardous conditions without fear of reprisal and to receive appropriate and timely responses.
Ongoing monitoring and maintenance of equipment to prevent it from becoming hazardous.
Prompt investigation of accidents, near-misses, and incidents of injury or illness to identify causes and corrective actions.
Your safety program should include safety plans, rules, and work procedures for specific operations at your company.
Your company's training program should ensure that supervisors understand the hazards associated with a job, their potential effects on their workers, and their role in ensuring that employees follow the rules, procedures, and work practices for controlling exposure to hazards. It should also make sure that employees understand hazards and safe work procedures. And lastly, where personal protective equipment is required, employees understand the requirement, the reasons for it, the limitations of the equipment, and how to maintain and use it properly.
The best safety programs include record-keeping and tracking of key leading safety indicators to measure and continuously improve their safety performance.