How to Participate in Safe + Sound Week, August 13-19, 2018

On August 13, 2018, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will hold their annual Safe + Sound Week nation-wide event to raise awareness and understanding of the valuable role that safety and health programs play in the workplace. OSHA emphasizes awareness initiatives that include management and leadership, worker participation in safety programs, and a systematic approach to finding and fixing hazards in workplaces.

OSHA explains that “safe workplaces are sound business” and that successful safety and health programs make a significant difference in mitigating workplace risks before they cause injuries or illnesses. Employers and their employees are encouraged to participate in the week-long event in order to supplement and enhance their existing safety and health programs or gain insight into creating and curating a program that meets their needs. Organizations of any size, industry, and risk level are encouraged to participate. Participation helps employers display their level of commitment to safety and health to their workers, customers, the public, business partners, and shareholders.

OSHA’s Safe + Sound week is highly accessible in most states. Employers can expect to find a wide range of hosted events in their local area, or participate by attending a web event online. Events can also be hosted by businesses within their own organization or opened to the public to attend.

Safe + Sound week’s various activities offered are based on three foundation-building practices:

Management Leadership

Activities based on Management Leadership center around the commitment that the highest levels of an organization must make to safety and health. Information will cover how business owners, executives, managers, and supervisors make safety and health a core value and an important part of their operation. These topics will aim to help employers deliver their message about the importance of safety and health in the workplace and remind their workers about the organization’s safety policies, reporting procedures, upcoming training, safety enhancements, and process improvements.

Worker Participation

Engaging workers in safety and health at all levels in an organization can be challenging. Worker Participation activities will help employers implement, evaluate, and improve safety and health in the workplace. Learn how to better help workers understand their value in making the organization safer and encourage them to communicate with management about encountered hazards and risks.

Find and Fix Hazards

A systematic approach to finding and fixing hazards in the workplace is part of a proactive approach to safety and health. Developing an on-going process to identify and control risk sources is an essential part of retaining a successful injury and illness prevention program. Root cause analysis, workplace auditing, and hazard identification are necessary levels of protection in many industries. “Identifying and correcting these hazards before someone gets hurt ensures that workers go home to their families safe and sound after every shift,” explains OSHA.

You can learn more about Safe + Sound Week 2018 and discover opportunities to participate in activities by going to the OSHA Safe + Sound Week website at https://www.osha.gov/safeandsoundweek/.