How Employers Can Benefit from OSHA’s Safety Champions Program
OSHA recently launched a new cooperative initiative designed to help employers develop and implement effective safety and health programs: the Safety Champions Program.
The Safety Champions Program is an attempt to meet businesses where they are on their pathway to safety and health success and encourages them to take proactive steps with a philosophy of continuous improvement to prevent workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities.
What Do Employers Stand to Gain?
According to OSHA’s Acting Director for Cooperative and State Programs, the program gives employers tools to identify and correct workplace hazards proactively, and “completion of the Safety Champions Program puts employers in a better position to be in compliance with OSHA’s safety and health standards.”
OSHA maintains that the program is voluntary and separate from OSHA enforcement activity or determination. It is also free and self-paced.
How Does OSHA’s Safety Champions Program Work?
The program has three progressive steps—Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced—that help employers develop and implement safety and health programs that incorporate the seven elements of OSHA’s Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs. The seven elements are:
- Management leadership
- Worker participation
- Hazard identification and assessment
- Hazard prevention and control
- Education and training
- Program evaluation and improvement
- Communication and coordination for host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies
Upon completion of all three levels of the Safety Champions Program, participants are expected to have implemented all seven elements and show plans for continuous improvement of their safety and health programs, thus demonstrating their commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy work environment.
Participants can choose to work independently or collaborate with Special Government Employees. These are individuals with safety and health experience who work alongside OSHA to provide guidance and technical assistance.
Learn more about the program here.
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