The main goal of safety and health programs is to prevent workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths, as well as the suffering and financial hardship these events can cause for workers, their families, and employers. The recommended practices use a proactive approach to managing workplace safety and health. Traditional approaches are often reactive — that is, problems are addressed only after a worker is injured or becomes sick, a new standard or regulation is published, or an outside inspection finds a problem that must be fixed. These recommended practices recognize that finding and fixing hazards before they cause injury or illness is a far more effective approach.

The idea is to begin with a basic program and simple goals and grow from there. If you focus on achieving goals, monitoring performance, and evaluating outcomes, your workplace can progress along the path to higher levels of safety and health achievement.

The Recommended Practices are not a standard or regulation and do not create any legal obligations or alter existing obligations created by OSHA standards or regulations. However, they show what OSHA considers to be a sound system, which can help employers in many situations, such as joining an OSHA voluntary program like the Safety and Health Achievement and Recognition Program (SHARP) and demonstrating good faith in the event of a citation.