The COVID-19 pandemic that began in early 2020 has underscored that employers can never be too careful when it comes to the health and safety of their employees, customers, and onsite service providers. COVID-19 is just one example of a biological workplace hazard but is far from the only one today’s employers and employees face.
As a top professional employer organization (PEO) in Kansas City, Axcet HR Solutions works with clients to identify common workplace safety and health hazards and create a plan to minimize them. The first step is to evaluate what hazards employees may face in their workplace. Hazards vary from one industry to another and from one business entity to another.
Here are the primary hazard categories of on-the-job injury and illness.
Keep in mind that these categories and subcategories do not represent every conceivable workplace hazard. Among the many benefits of risk management consulting is that Axcet HR Solutions often uncovers hazards that employers may have never realized.
By congressional act, the federal government has mandated OSHA, an organization under the umbrella of the Department of Labor, to determine what minimum safety standards employers must maintain to keep their employees safe. OSHA’s General Duty Clause states that employers are responsible to provide a work environment “free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm”. To meet this requirement, OSHA requires employers to comply with the standards set in their regulations. These regulations are many and their rules can be very specific as well as very broad in scope. Some states have federal government approval to maintain their own State OSHA plan as long as their standards are at least as stringent as the federal regulations. In OSHA Region 7, which includes Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa, only Iowa has a State OSHA plan. The three other states fall under federal regulations.
OSHA encourages all employers to create a written General Health & Safety program to use as a foundation to achieve worker safety. This program should define safety responsibilities and work rules, such as how to address workplace hazards, safety processes, injury and illness reporting, and investigating procedures. OSHA does require written control programs for certain hazards such as excessive noise and exposure to certain respiratory and chemical hazards.
OSHA’s publication on employer responsibilities states that the most successful health and safety programs for employees share three comment elements. These include strong management leadership, worker participation, and using a systemic approach to discovering hazards and then reducing or eliminating them. The list below includes examples of several responsibilities that OSHA places on employers.
Knowing and abiding by OSHA regulations is essential for both employers and employees. Employers face fines and other penalties for violations of OSHA standards while employees increase the risk of injury or illness when not following established guidelines.
Also known as workplace safety consulting, risk management consulting is one of several services clients receive when they work with Axcet HR Solutions. Risk management services involve evaluating potential risks to employee health and safety and offering solutions. The review typically involves risk identification, assessment, mitigation, and monitoring as outlined here.
The safety team at Axcet HR Solutions includes a health and safety consultant, claims manager, and risk manager. Each team member brings decades of experience and unique expertise to risk management consulting. To schedule a consultation with Axcet HR Solutions, please complete this form or call 913-383-2999.
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