Caveats about OSHA’s safety and health program guidance

A core ingredient in creating a safe workplace is a written safety and health program that defines potential hazards and ways to address them, along with goals and objectives, and provisions for training, accountability, etc.

The question for many small- and medium-sized businesses is how to go about creating or improving a plan. Employers can go it alone, of course, but many find it beneficial to engage an expert safety and health consultant. OSHA also is now offering updated advice on program creation, although employers need to have some context on the agency’s recommendations before using OSHA’s guidance as a template.

OSHA recently published its “Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs” on its website, replacing the agency’s 1989 Voluntary Guidelines. The website contains extensive resources for setting up a safety and health program that can be used in any industry, and is good reading as companies work on their safety and health program.

But employers should be aware of a couple of key facts before basing their plan on this guidance.

• There is no OSHA requirement for a company to have a safety and health program
• Many of the recommendations in OSHA’s guidelines far exceed OSHA’s requirements

In addition, employers should be aware of another important point, as expressed by Rod Smith and his colleagues at the Sherman & Howard law firm: “Adoption of a recommended practice does not constitute compliance with any particular standard. OSHA is clear that the recommendations do not alter any existing obligations created by OSHA standards. In other words, follow the standards.”