According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), “Safe workplaces are sound workplaces.” An organization’s safety culture is ultimately reflected in the way that safety is managed in the workplace, and having a strong safety and health program can help create:

• Fewer accidents, losses, and disruptions by preventing workplace injuries and illnesses
• Engaged employees and improved morale
• Increased productivity and enhanced overall business operations
• Lower workers’ compensation and insurance claims
• Improved compliance with OSHA regulations
• Improved reputation to attract new customers and employees and retain existing ones
• Better brand and shareholder value that tie to social responsibility

These benefits are precisely why the OSHA created Safe + Sound as a year-round campaign: to encourage every workplace to develop, implement, and maintain a safety and health program.

Safe + Sound Week

One week out of the year—August 15-21, 2022—OSHA promotes a nationwide “Safe + Sound Week” to recognize the successes of workplace health and safety programs, offer information and ideas on how to keep America’s workers safe, and encourage America’s workplaces to commit to workplace safety and health.

OSHA recommends that every workplace have a safety and health program that includes the following three major areas:

• Management leadership. Management must provide the leadership, vision, and resources needed to implement an effective safety and health program. This means that business owners, managers, and supervisors commit to:
  • Making worker safety and health a core organizational value.
  • Eliminating hazards, protecting workers, and continuously improving workplace safety and health.
  • Providing sufficient resources to implement and maintain a strong safety culture.
  • Visibly demonstrating and communicating their ongoing commitment to safety and health.
• Worker participation. Engaging workers at all levels in establishing, implementing, evaluating, and improving safety and health in the workplace creates buy-in. Workers are a valuable partner in making the workplace safer, and maximizing participation (without risk of retaliation) allows everyone to feel invested in the program.
• Systematic approach to finding and fixing hazards. Finding and fixing hazards in the workplace is an ongoing process to better identify and control sources of potential injuries or illnesses. This can involve establishing procedures to collect and review information about known or potential hazards, investigating the root cause of those hazards, and prioritizing hazard controls. This continual process ensures that workers go home to their families safe and sound every night.

KTL’s Series on Investing in Safety

Throughout OSHA’s Safe + Sound Week (August 15-19), KTL will be featuring a series of articles and posts on our blog and social media (i.e., Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) reinforcing these concepts from OSHA and discussing why businesses should invest in safety. Topics will include the following:

• Where is your company on its safety journey?
• Top employee safety concerns and why they need to be heard
• Worker compensation audits, what to expect, and how you can save money
• Behavior-based safety – what is it?
• Benefits of a third-party safety audit

Watch for these articles! And for more information on Safe + Sound and what your organization can do to participate and promote a strong safety culture, visit https://www.osha.gov/safeandsound.