OSHA recently issued a white paper on the benefits of injury and illness prevention programs. It includes sections on how injury and illness prevention programs work and evidence of their success. The paper discusses, too, the costs of workplace accidents and how these programs can be effectively implemented by small businesses. OSHA also makes the following conclusions:
-Despite the combined efforts of employers, workers, unions, safety professionals and regulators, more than 4,500 workers lose their lives and more than four million are seriously injured each year. Tens of thousands more die or are incapacitated because of occupational illnesses including many types of cancer and lung disease.
-Many employers in the U.S. have been slow to adopt a workplace "safety culture" that emphasizes planning and carrying out work in the safest way possible.
-Injury and illness prevention programs are based on proven managerial concepts that have been widely used in industry to bring about improvements in quality, environment and safety, and health performance. Effective injury and illness prevention programs emphasize top-level ownership of the program, participation by employees and a "find and fix" approach to workplace hazards.
-Injury and illness prevention programs need not be resource-intensive and can be adapted to meet the needs of any size organization.
The white paper is posted on the Agency’s Injury and Illness Prevention Programs Web page, which includes additional information from other organizations on injury and illness prevention programs.
A Blog From the American Society of Safety Engineers
