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Regional worker fatality increase leads to OSHA action

July 20th, 2018 by Dakota Software Staff

Regional worker fatality increase leads to OSHA action

A recent increase in fatalities within three Midwest states triggered a response from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Safety+Health Magazine said OSHA focused its response aroundraising awareness of the resources it offers to employers in an effort to create safer workplaces. With 34 deaths across three states - Kansas, Missouriand Nebraska - since October 2017, Kim Stille, OSHA regional administrator, believed such action was necessary.

Workplace safety improvements are a vital consideration in all industries.

OSHA offers numerous resources to help employers reduce workplace injury, illness risks

While many businesses view the federal health and safety regulator as a developer and enforcer of workplace safety rules, OSHA also offers a number of resources to help businesses keep workers active and healthy. Taking advantage of these offerings, which include compliance assistance and on-site consultations, as Safety+Health pointed out, offer a variety of avenues for assistance. Whether organizations want to get an opinion about specific practices at their facilities or develop a more robust safety plan, OSHA can help.

"OSHA has investigated 34 fatalities in these three states since Oct. 1, 2017," Stille said in a press release from OSHA. "Working together with employers, unions, and employees, we can reduce these incidents. By implementing and sustaining workplace safety and health programs we can help employees avoid preventable injuries and fatalities. The agency has additional resources available to help employers of all sizes identify workplace hazards and eliminate them."

The release specifically highlighted the Safe + Sound campaign, an effort to build comprehensive, effective worker protection programs with a number of specific and important characteristics, including:

  • Active involvement and leadership from facility and company supervisors, managers and leaders.
  • Various forms of employee activity and participation to encourage information sharing and hazard identification.
  • A targeted, systematic approach to identifying, mitigating and removing hazards, ensuring no potentially dangerous situation or workflow is left undiscovered.

Safe + Sound is a voluntary effort that encourages businesses to join and use the resources offered to improve their health and safety initiatives. Close to 200 companies have signed on since the program began in 2017.

With the fatalities that led to the OSHA response caused by a variety of hazards, from falls to grain bin engulfment and struck-by-object and -vehicle incidents, companies in all industry sectors need to reassess and improve current safety programs.

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