Safety
What is the Value of an OSHA Course in General Industry?
By Darcy Cook, CSHO, SHS, PTA, Safety Trainers
Looking for a way to engage your front-line supervisors and managers in safety? You are not alone. This concern is always listed as one of the top three unsuccessful safety goals during our discussions with clients who are trying to build a stronger safety culture.
Although an OSHA 10 Course is not a best practice for manufacturing companies, it might be a start to getting your supervisors and managers to walk through the manufacturing departments with a different perspective.
Let’s face it we are creatures of habit. Consider your morning routine. You showered, got dressed, drove to work on the same route, stopped at same coffee shop, parked in same parking spot, used the same door and started your day. It’s time to shake things up in safety. We don’t want you walking through the motions the same way, anymore. We want you to look around the manufacturing floor and seeing the work employees are doing from a new perspective.
Here’s another example of how an OSHA 10 or 30 Course might get your managers to finally hear what you are asking them to do.
Have you ever suggested to your spouse or child and they ignored your suggestion? Of course, we all experienced this one.
We also find ourselves repeating our suggestion every time the same problem or conversation comes up. And, they still ignore our suggestion.
This is the definition of insanity. They keep doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same result and we keep telling them to try it a different way and they ignore the suggestion.
BUT WAIT! Your neighbor, someone at school or work tells your spouse or child the exact same thing that you have been saying for weeks, months, maybe even years and they come home and say "Bob from work said that I should try." And you hit your head saying to yourself, "I have been telling you that for years."
Let’s break this pattern. An OSHA 10 can build a foundation for understanding who OSHA is, why they show up and what OSHA expects of employers and employees.
During this training participants will become familiar with OSHA standards which are Federal Laws for employee safety in the workplace.
Your management team will understand their responsibilities’ in hazard identification, application of the hierarchy of controls and corrective action.
Want to take it to the next level? An OSHA 30 hour gets your management team practicing their roles in safety with the direction of an experienced safety professional. They will do a job hazard analysis, facility site inspection, complete an incident investigation process, look at your policies, learn how to establish, manage and execute an effective safety committee and know how to use all the OSHA resources and tools available on the OSHA website.
In this class you will learn to look up standards, find letters of interpretation and use the OSHA saves program.
An OSHA 10 or 30 Course is a great management training in compliance and safety leadership.
Additional Resources to Review
Darcy Cook is President of Safety Trainers, a division of Cook Professional Resources, Inc. (Worcester, MA). She can be reached at (508) 799-2857 or at [email protected] or www.safetytrainers.com.
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