Does the Occupational Safety & Health Administration send a chill up your spine?

Do you have that 1 client that is a total safety disaster?

OSHA was created under the Occupational Safety & Health Act of 1970 to "assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women".

If you've ever been audited or have been a part of a client's audit, then you know it's becoming more of a shakedown to get money for the DOL than a safety oversight procedure.

Business Insurance reported yesterday that while injury reports are up, OSHA still expected to see more. What does that mean? Get your checkbook ready.

Here are 3 Incidents that trigger a mandatory OSHA visit:

What can you do to help your clients prevent an audit and more importantly avoid the above incidents?

Education.

Get your clients assistance with their Human Resource practices to ensure employee satisfaction. Not only can this identify potential whistle blowers it can also help you retain top talent.

Safety training for employees and managers must become a part of the client's culture. Because it can be costly for them, consider providing it to them as a value added service. To ensure utilization, owners can tie managers compensation to employee safety.

And all of the precautions in the world, their updated Incidents Log, and their timely reporting will mean nothing to an auditor if they don't have documentation of write ups on these incidents.

-R