OSEA Safety Blog

Safety Program Updates

Monday, October 29, 2018 Amanda Coniglio

You invest time, money, or both into the creation of your corporate health and safety manual, so you’re all set, right? Well, correct, for now……. The reality is that your safety programming should be a working document. It will require frequent updates as regulatory changes and updates occur and as any changes occur within your organization (i.e. changes to process, personnel, and any new hazards/risks that arise).

So how do you stay on top of this and ensure that your manual contains the latest and greatest? Most programs within your manual should be, at the very least, reviewed annually to ensure procedures and requirements are being followed; to ensure any changes within your organization have not affected the validity of your programs, and to ensure that any new federal, state, or local requirements/updates are included.

If you are waiting more than 3 years to update your health and safety programs, you are most likely falling out of compliance with OSHA and other governmental regulations – as they are continuously researching, identifying common hazards, developing new rules, and issuing those new rules/standards.

If you find yourself with a manual that has not been updated in over 3 years, claiming ignorance is rarely effective. Continuous review and update is necessary to keep your employees safe and organization compliant. Don’t wait until every program falls out of compliance, schedule an internal annual review and plan to have a professional update at least every three years. The dynamics of workplace safety evolve continuously, make sure you are keeping up!

Need help with updating your Safety Manual? OSEA can help! Follow this link to learn more: https://www.osea.com/programs/corp-safety-manual/

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