Your workplace must follow rules and guidelines established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Doing so can prevent work-related injuries, which have a negative impact on your staff as well as your business. Compliance with safety regulations also helps you avoid damaging penalties related to OSHA violations. Here are a few steps you can take to maintain a safe environment. 

3 Tips to Avoid OSHA Violations

1. Provide PPE as Required

Personal protective equipment (PPE) includes a wide range of items designed to prevent illness and injury. PPE includes eye and hearing protection, gloves, respirators, helmets, harnesses, and many other forms of equipment and gear. 

Employers must make sure that their staff has access to all the necessary PPE needed to safely perform their jobs. Additionally, management must also ensure their workers are following rules regarding PPE. 

2. Create a Comprehensive Safety Plan

A good safety plan can serve as a roadmap for your team. In it, you can establish protocols for assessing equipment for safety purposes. When items are found to be defective, they must be taken out of rotation until they can be repaired or replaced. 

Your safety plan should also include information on how to respond to a work-related injury. This can entail safe practices for stabilizing the affected workers until medical personnel arrive. 

Record keeping is also crucial to your safety plan, so keep a list of any illnesses or injuries experienced at work in case OSHA has questions. 

3. Onboard New Workers

Once the safety plan has been drafted, the next step is to make sure all workers are aware of it. Workers must also be trained in the proper use of PPE and when it should be worn. If the use of heavy equipment is commonplace at your business, only those trained and certified to operate should be allowed. If a worker experiences an issue while using a piece of equipment, they must be re-trained before they can be allowed to operate it again. 

In the event a work-related injury does occur at your business, Affinity Industrial Medicine in Monroe, LA, is here to lend support. Along with providing fast, efficient, and effective treatment for injured workers, this team can help you compile essential documents and records to show OSHA compliance. They can also help you find talented and qualified individuals for your workplace thanks to their comprehensive physical exams and drug screenings. Visit the website to learn more, or call (318) 812-7559 with any questions.