For years—decades really—OSHA has reinforced the same recommendations for programs to improve workplace safety and health. Twenty-seven years after the initial guidance, the agency has tweaked those recommendations. Keep reading to find out what’s changed and why it matters.
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The new recommendations update OSHA’s 1989 safety and health program guidelines to reflect changes in the economy, workplaces, and evolving safety and health issues. OSHA says the guidance features a new, easier-to-use format and should be especially beneficial to smaller businesses. Also new is a section on multiemployer workplaces, and more emphasis on continuous improvement. Supporting tools and resources are included in the guidance document.
OSHA emphasizes that the program recommendations are not prescriptive. Rather, they are built around a set of processes that can be implemented at workplaces in any industry. The agency says it has seen the guidance successfully applied in manufacturing, construction, health care, technology, retail, services, higher education, and government.
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