Every business should have a written safety manual. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) encourages all employers to make safety a priority in the workplace and clearly communicate standard procedures to employees.[1] Putting together a safety manual lays the foundation for an effective safety plan at work, and it demonstrates to employees and OSHA that you’re taking proactive steps to prevent illness and injury at work.
Table of Contents:
- What Is a Company Safety Manual?
- What Are the Benefits of Documenting Safety Procedures?
- How to Put Together a Company Safety Manual
What Is a Company Safety Manual?
Workplace safety management is complex. Whether you are in charge of an office environment or a manufacturing facility, there are numerous procedures and best practices that need to be established for the sake of employees, customers, and anyone who visits the workplace.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been even more that employers and safety managers need to stay on top of, as regular sanitizing and social distancing at work have become the norm.
In environments with a risk of exposure to hazardous chemicals or electric shock, you’ll need a whole extra layer of safety protocols, like documented lockout/tagout procedures and a written hazard communication program.
A written safety manual serves as an organization’s single source of truth for all safety and health information. It includes details on procedures, policies, and instructions. It also serves as a resource for employees—with a written manual, they can easily check what steps they need to take to be safe at work.
What Are the Benefits of Documenting Safety Procedures?
By putting together a company safety manual, your organization will benefit in the following ways:
- Improves legal and regulatory compliance because you can verify what procedures you have in place and what you’ve communicated to employees.
- Increases the likelihood that employees will follow safety and health requirements: when expectations are clearly communicated, there’s less of a chance that workers will forget or neglect safety steps.
- Simplifies the process of updating safety procedures: update the manual periodically or when there are changes in the workplace and redistribute copies to your employees.
- Helps to protect workers from illness and injury: when everyone is on the same page concerning health and safety, it’s easier to prevent accidents from happening in the first place.
How to Put Together a Company Safety Manual
Creating a written safety manual requires a time investment because you’ll need to research requirements and include a lot of information. Consider discussing what you’re putting in the manual with employees and your management team to check that it’s easy to read and that you’re not missing any important elements. You may also want to consult with a workplace safety specialist to ensure you include the right information in your manual.
Here are the steps you can take to put together an effective safety manual:
- Make a list of all known hazards that require written communication.
- Identify all relevant industry standards and government regulations set out by OSHA that apply to your workplace.
- Engage stakeholders to discuss the manual and to find out if there are any specific health and safety concerns workers or managers have.
- Consult a workplace safety expert to review the plan for your manual, if you feel this step is necessary.
Create the manual, keeping in mind clarity and readability. Use straightforward, easy-to-understand language and organize the text with a table of contents, bullet lists, and subheadings so employees can easily find the information they’re looking for.
The manual will include:
- Company rules specific to your organization. This can include factors such as keeping the workplace clean and organized, wearing appropriate personal protective gear, and safety protocols during the pandemic.
- A workplace hazard assessment. OSHA requires employers to conduct inspections and identify all potential hazards. You can use a hazard checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything.[2]
- Safe work practices and procedures. These include instructions on how to operate equipment safely and how to perform specific tasks in a way that reduces the risk of injury.
- Preventative maintenance schedule. This will outline what workplace equipment needs to be inspected and when.
- Emergency preparedness. This is the section where you’ll outline procedures for how people in the workplace can respond to an emergency, such as fire evacuation plans. It also details what your company does to protect employees in case there’s an emergency.
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[1] https://www.osha.gov/Publications/smallbusiness/small-business.html#fourpoint
[2] https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/etools/09-031/hazassesscheck.pdf
Product Compliance and Suitability
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