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NIOSH Safety Checklist Program for Schools |
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About the NIOSH Safety Checklist ProgramAdministrators, coordinators, and teachers know that their schools should comply with Federal or State Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations. However, the task may seem overwhelming! This Safety Checklist Program can help these leaders bring their schools into compliance even when they have little safety and health experience, a busy schedule, and many unanswered questions. Many States mandate that career-technical schools and institutions have safety and health programs in place, conduct hazard analyses for each career-technical program, do safety inspections and maintenance, and comply with safety and health and environmental regulations. In one easy-to-read source, the Safety Checklist Program provides information needed by schools to maintain safe classrooms, shops, and labs for teachers and students in career-technical education. This information can also be used by colleges and universities with occupational safety and health programs. The key to preventing injury and illness of school employees and students, and protecting the environment, is to establish a safety and health and environmental safety program. Overview of the NIOSH Safety Checklist Program ManualAt first glance, the size of the Safety Checklist Program can seem overwhelming because of the large number of checklists needed to cover all regulations applicable to career-technical school settings. The program contains four chapters and several appendices. Each chapter builds on the preceding one to develop a workable plan for implementing a checklist program. Chapter 1: Making Sense of Regulations gives background information concerning the regulatory agencies and regulations that are applicable to career-technical education. Chapter 2: How to Establish an Effective Occupational Safety and Health and Environmental Safety Program outlines ways to ensure that an effective program is instituted and maintained. Chapter 3: Implementing a Safety Checklist Program describes how to implement a checklist program in your school to identify hazards and determine regulatory compliance. Special indexes listing the checklists by name, career-technical program, and hazard will help select which checklists to use for each career-technical course or program. This chapter also provides a case study of a real school's checklist program. Handouts are included for teacher training in the use of the checklists. Chapter 4: Safety Checklists contains the checklists. Appendices are provided as references for additional information or help. Appendix A: Resource Agencies and Organizations gives descriptions and contact information for regulatory agencies and their respective regulations, professional organizations, and other occupational safety and health groups. Appendix B: Using the Safety Checklist Program to Teach Students About Occupational Safety and Health suggests ways to use the checklists with students and includes additional educational resources. Appendix C: Suggestions for Facilitating Inspections offers strategies for preparing for inspections conducted by regulatory agencies. Appendix D: Emergency Procedures in Public Secondary Schools in the Event of a Chemical Spill describes planning regulations pertaining to emergency response. Appendix E: Text of Selected Regulations Additional Resources Acknowledgments
This document is in the public domain and may be freely copied or reprinted. How can the safety checklist program benefit schools?The Safety Checklist Program can benefit schools by helping them do the following:
The Safety Checklist Program was modeled after a manual developed in New Jersey entitled Safe Schools: A Health and Safety Check. This manual of checklists covers environmental regulations as well as safety and health regulations for secondary occupational and career orientation programs in New Jersey public schools. The Safe Schools manual is a successful, pilot-tested manual developed with the help of hundreds of individuals and supported by the New Jersey Department of Education, Office of School-to-Career and College Initiatives. The manual has been successfully used in New Jersey since 1992. Commonly Asked Questions and AnswersBelow are some commonly asked questions that participants raised during the development of the New Jersey Safe Schools Manual, on which the Safety Checklist Program is modeled: Q: Do the checklists cover all potential hazards in my program? Q: Are the checklists mandatory? Why should my school use them? Q:Are the checklists all I need for a safety and health program at my school? Q: Do the checklists deal with occupational safety and health and environmental safety regulations applicable to the whole school? Q: Do the checklists cover cooperative education off school grounds? Q: Do the checklists cover science classes and adult career-technical education classes? Q: If I don't identify any problems when I use the checklists to evaluate my classroom, will I be in compliance with all Federal, State, and municipal regulations? Ordering InformationTo receive documents or other information about occupational safety and health topics, contact the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) at NIOSH—Publications Dissemination Telephone: 1-800-35-NIOSH (1-800-356-4674) DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2004-101 |
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