Even if your business is lucky enough to avoid on-the-job injuries, an unsafe work environment will still take its toll on your workforce. We as human beings are deeply influenced by our surroundings, and when we find ourselves in an unsafe environment we become anxious and start to look for a way out — whether we recognize it consciously or not. As such, unaddressed workplace safety issues can easily lead to employee absenteeism, poor quality of work, and increased turnover (along with the more obvious risks of injury or death).

With so much on the line, organizations across all industries are recognizing the importance of a culture of safety in the workplace. Here, we discuss 8 steps for building a safety culture. But first, let’s define what a safety culture is, and what it can mean to your business.

We’re all pretty familiar with Murphy’s Law: something that can go wrong will go wrong. Right? Well, maybe not everything will go wrong in life, but there are certainly elements of risk with most things in business. Every company will have risks that could affect business somehow. Something could go wrong, and there could be problems—sometimes really big problems—from it.

A new regulation was passed in 2017 that pertains to your OSHA recordkeeping information. This regulation requires you to visit the OSHA Injury Tracking Application (ITA) via their website and submit your information digitally for each establishment.  Here are few FAQs that may help you on this process.

Hopefully this isn’t new news to you but the deadline to submit your information off of your OSHA 300a to OSHA directly is coming up! This deadline is separate from posting your 300a in a conspicuous location at your facility. This regulation requires you to visit the OSHA Injury Tracking Application (ITA) via their website and submit your information digitally for each establishment.  Here are few FAQs that may help you on this process.

Who has to submit their information?

Pretty much everyone if you have greater than 20 employees! If you are in the construction or general industry business, then you’re more than likely on the list. For a complete list of industries that are required to submit, visit this link: https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/NAICScodesforelectronicsubmission.pdf

OSHA recently released its 10 most frequently cited violations in 2017.

1. Fall protection: 6,072 citations—Falls from ladders and roofs still account for the majority of injuries at work, and the first step in eliminating or reducing falls is to identify all hazards and decide how to best protect employees.
2. Hazard communication: 4,176 citations—This standard governs hazard communication to employees about chemicals that are both produced or imported into the workplace. Most violations concern the failure to develop a written hazard training program or failure to provide a Safety Data Sheet for all workplace chemicals.

It's difficult to get employees to change their behaviors.  We hear this from leaders all the time:

"My people just don't get it. We do trainings and have all these safety initiatives, but our people just don't change." 

It's hard. So we're going to share our secret on how we work with clients to make dramatic turnarounds in performance.

3 Requirements to Shift Culture

The deadline to submit your OSHA 300A information electronically is December 31^st, 2017. For the first time ever, OSHA will have its teeth into some very compelling data about your organization's safety program. 

Who does this impact?

Establishments with 250 or more employees and establishments with 20-249 employees that are classified in certain industries with historically high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses will be required to submit the information off of the company’s 300A forms.

Construction company executives have a lot to worry about. We find that CEOs leave a few key risks unchecked.

1. Being Unprepared for a Crisis

A crisis is any unpredictable event that threatens to harm an organization, its stakeholders, or the general public. 

What's the risk? The credibility and reputation of an organization is heavily influenced by how the company responds during a crisis. Failing to have an effective communication plan in place could be detrimental to your company's image in the community and create confusion amongst employees.

OSHA originally set an enforcement date of June 23, but has delayed it to September 23 of this year. They delay is due to OSHA wanting "to conduct additional outreach and provide educational materials and guidance for employers", but it is likely this delay will lead to a cut of this potential new standard. So - what should employers do?