Safety and Health Management Basics

Oregon OSHA Online Course 100

COURSE INTRODUCTION

According to the Oregon Safe Employment Act (see below) every employer has a legal obligation to provide and maintain a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. This course has been developed to help you meet that obligation.

Chapter 654 - Occupational Safety and Health
2007 EDITION
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
LABOR, EMPLOYMENT; UNLAWFUL DISCRIMINATION
SAFETY AND HEALTH CONDITIONS IN PLACES OF EMPLOYMENT

654.003 Purpose. The purpose of the Oregon Safe Employment Act is to assure as far as possible safe and healthful working conditions for every working man and woman in Oregon, to preserve our human resources and to reduce the substantial burden, in terms of lost production, wage loss, medical expenses, disability compensation payments and human suffering, that is created by occupational injury and disease. To accomplish this purpose the Legislative Assembly intends to provide a procedure that will:
(1) Encourage employers and employees to reduce the number of occupational safety and health hazards and to institute new programs and improve existing programs for providing safe and healthful working conditions.
(2) Establish a coordinated program of worker and employer education, health and safety consultative services, demonstration projects and research to assist workers and their employers in preventing occupational injury and disease, whatever the cause.
(3) Authorize the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services and the designees of the director to set reasonable, mandatory, occupational safety and health standards for all employments and places of employment.
(4) Provide an effective program, under the director, to enforce all laws, regulations, rules and standards adopted for the protection of the life, safety and health of employees, and in so doing, predominantly prioritize inspections of places of employment to first focus enforcement activities upon places of employment that the director reasonably believes to be the most unsafe.
(5) Establish appropriate reporting and research procedures that will help achieve the objectives of the Oregon Safe Employment Act, identify occupational hazards and unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, and describe the nature of the occupational safety and health problem.
(6) Assure that Oregon assumes fullest responsibility, in accord with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-596), for the development, administration and enforcement of safety and health laws and standards. [1973 c.833 §3; 1987 c.884 §55; 1999 c.1017 §1]

Taking risks is part of running a business. You take risks in product development, marketing, and advertising in order to stay competitive. But there are some risks that should never be taken. One of these risks is the safety and health of the employees in the company.

Getting Started

Study the seven key elements of an effective safety and health program covered in this course, and come up with a plan to suit your individual workplace. Decide exactly what you want to accomplish, and determine what steps are necessary to achieve your goals. Some of the elements may already exist, needing only minor changes to make them more effective.

Next, plan how and when each step will be carried out and who will do it. If your company has a safety committee, its members can be a great help in this effort.

Put the plan in writing. It's smart to put your plan in writing so everyone can read it and get involved.