Are You Ready For A Surprise OSHA Inspection? September 26 2017

Workers are entitled to certain health and safety standards; they are protected by the OSHA Act. Being safety inspection ready means always protecting your employees -- something that will save you big money between fines from OSHA and overturn as a result of unhappy or injured employees. Your employees will feel valued and safe when your business practices focus on attention to safety inspection readiness.

What can you do to make sure your facility is always ready for a visit from OSHA inspectors?

Make sure all equipment is the highest quality. Heavy machinery, like forklifts, should obviously be purchased with care and attention to safety. However, it is important for you to make sure that all of the equipment you purchase for your building carries a trusted brand name and a high safety rating. From electrical equipment like collision awareness systems to simpler barrier systems, each of these tools for your workplace have OSHA standards for functionality.

Provide the right safety equipment necessary. Does your facility house potentially dangerous chemicals? Do your workers handle anything that could be hazardous to their health as part of their everyday job? It is your responsibility to maintain safety in the workplace and account for the number of people in your staff. Make sure that each of them has the right safety equipment necessary to complete their work tasks. This goes for gloves, boots, helmets, vests, eye protection, and more.

Keep your safety plan readily available. Make a safety corner in your building. In that area, you should keep all of your safety equipment, your first aid kit, your emergency evacuation plan, the contact information for OSHA, and a locked suggestion box for employees to submit their complaints and comments about safety and health in your workplace. This allows employees to anonymously express their concerns to you -- although there should already be an open door policy for workers to tell you about these concerns already. However, there is often some intimidation still involved when employees feel uncomfortable at work; empowering them with knowledge, safety tools, and the ability to tell you things that upset them without fear will make a big difference in being safety inspection ready at all times.

What are you doing to keep your facility ready for a safety inspection? Comment here, or find us on Twitter @FloorTapeStore!