U.S. Department of Labor | ||||||
Occupational Safety & Health Administration |
Q & A's for Small Business Employers
Establishing a safe and healthful working environment requires every employer -- large and small -- and every worker to make safety and health a top priority. The entire work force -- from the CEO to the most recent hire -- must recognize that worker safety and health is central to the mission and key to the profitability of the American company. OSHA's job is to provide leadership and encouragement to workers and employers to take that responsibility seriously. We continue to help employers and employees focus on reducing injuries, illnesses, and fatalities and to increase their commitment to improved safety and health. OSHA can help small businesses and others through a variety of tools, including partnership, consultation, compliance assistance, education and training, outreach, and plain language regulations. Why is safety and health important for a small business owner like me? Safety is good business. An effective safety and health program can save $4 to $6 for every $1 invested. It's the right thing to do, and doing it right pays off in lower costs, increased productivity, and higher employee morale. As an employer, you have a duty to protect your workers from injury and illness on the job. Protecting workers also makes good business sense. Accidents and injuries are more expensive than many realize. Costs mount up quickly. But substantial savings in workers' compensation and lost workdays are possible when injuries and illnesses decline. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) can help you. How can I reduce employee injuries and illnesses? Compliance with OSHA rules is essential. Compliance along with an effective voluntary safety and health program can help reduce your costs and injuries and illnesses. An organized, carefully crafted plan that systematically focuses on workplace hazards and employee training is critical. Buy-in from every manager and employee is essential. Everyone has to work at safety and health. How do I develop this program? Each safety and health program should be tailored to fit the company, to blend with its unique operations and culture, and to help employers maintain a system that continually addresses workplace hazards. There are five elements that every effective program should have: management leadership and employee participation, workplace analysis, hazard prevention and control, safety and health training and education, and program evaluation. What do you mean by management leadership and employee participation? Employers and employees work together to make safety and health a priority. Employer and employee involvement communication on workplace and safety and health issues are essential. For example, this partnership can be achieved when you
What is SBREFA? In 1996, the Congress passed the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, or SBREFA, to help small businesses. Under SBREFA, OSHA must
Note: If you are a small business, you may participate in the regulatory process and comment on OSHA enforcement actions by calling the Small Business Ombudsman at 1-888-REG-FAIR. What's a worksite analysis and how often do I have to do it? A worksite analysis means that you and your employees analyze all worksite conditions to identify and eliminate existing or potential hazards. This should be done on a regular and timely basis. There should be a current hazard analysis for all jobs and processes that all employees know and understand. To do this, it is helpful to
The next part of a good safety and health program is your continual review of your work environment and work practices to control or prevent workplace hazards. This can be done when you
It is important that everyone in the workplace be properly trained, from the floor worker to the supervisors, managers, contractors, and part-time and temporary employees. This can be done when you
OSHA operates various voluntary compliance programs to assist small employers. The OSHA Consultation Service helps employers find out about potential hazards and how to improve their occupational safety and health management. A visit from OSHA consultation is always at the employer's request. The service offers workplace safety and health training and technical assistance. Consultation is a free service largely funded by OSHA and operated by state government agencies using well-trained safety and health staff. This service is completely separate from OSHA's inspection effort; no citations are issued or penalties proposed. An employer's only obligation is to correct serious hazards that the consultant finds. The visit begins with an opening conference between the consultant and the employer followed by a walkaround of the worksite. For more information on consultation services, contact your nearest OSHA office listed at the end of this publication or visit OSHA's website at www.osha.gov. Can I get other help from OSHA? OSHA also provides others services and assistance to help small businesses. These include the following:
OSHA regulations are contained in Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 1904 (Recordkeeping), 1910 (General Industry), 1915 through 1925 (Maritime), 1926 (Construction), and 1928 (Agriculture). All OSHA regulations are available or can be ordered online at www.osha.gov. Printed copies of OSHA regulations are sold by the Government Printing Office and can be ordered online as indicated above.
OSHA is working closely with the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Small Business Development Centers program to provide information on OSHA and its many programs available to small business owners. There is at least one center in every state -- a total of 1,000 nationwide -- that provides services to small businesses. For a center near you, visit SBA's website at www.sba.gov. OSHA Regional Offices
(OSHA has small business liaisons available in each of its regions to assist you.) Region I (CT,* MA, ME, NH, RI, VT*) JKF Federal Building, Room E-340 Boston, MA 02203 Telephone: (617) 565-9860 Region II (NJ,* NY,* PR,* VI*) 201 Varick Street, Room 670 New York, NY 10014 Telephone: (212) 337-2357 Region III (DC, DE, MD,* PA, VA,* WV) The Curtis Center, Suite 740 West 170 S. Independence Mall West Philadelphia, PA 19106-3309 Telephone: (215) 861-4900 Region IV (AL, FL, GA, KY,* MS, NC,* SC,* TN*) Sam Nun Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Room 6T50 Atlanta, GA 30303 Telephone: (404) 562-2300 Region V (IL, IN,* MI,* MN,* OH, WI) 230 South Dearborn Street Room 3244 Chicago, IL 60604 Telephone: (312) 353-2220 Region VI (AR, LA, NM,* OK, TX) 525 Griffin Street, Room 602 Dallas, TX 75202 Telephone: (214) 767-4731 Region VII (IA,* KS, MO, NE) City Center Square 1100 Main Street, Suite 800 Kansas City, MO 64105 Telephone: (816) 426-5861 Region VIII (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT,* WY*) 1999 Broadway, Suite 1690 Denver, CO 80201-6550 Telephone: (303) 844-1600 Region IX (American Samoa, AZ,* CA,* Guam, HI,* NV,* Trust Territories of the Pacific) 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 420 San Francisco, CA 94105 Telephone: (415) 975-4310 Region X (AK,* ID, OR,* WA*) 1111 Third Avenue, Suite 715 Seattle, WA 98101-3212 Telephone: (206) 553-5930 * These states and territories operate their own OSHA-approved job safety and health programs (Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York plans cover public employees only). States with approved programs must have a standard that is identical to, or at least as effective as, the federal standard. |
Back to Top | www.osha.gov | www.dol.gov |
Contact Us | Freedom of Information Act | Customer Survey Privacy and Security Statement | Disclaimers |
||
Occupational Safety & Health Administration 200 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20210 |
Page last updated: 12/05/2005 |