Invest in your worker’s knowledge
Safety training seems like the right place to start enhancing a jobsite’s safety culture. It’s the first thing workers do when they get to the jobsite and provides the first chance to size up the company. The first impression is the last.
The rule at 1926.21, Safety Training and Education, includes two paragraphs for which OSHA has issued 17 interpretations. All 17 guide employers. Paragraph (a) discusses duties of the United States Secretary of Labor, and paragraph (b) discusses employer duties. OSHA’s last guidance on this standard was in 2012 regarding its multi-employer policy.
Under paragraph (b), employers generally must train workers about hazards in the workplace and how to avoid them. Besides this general training, OSHA mentions employees must receive specific training about chemicals in the workplace, hazards from plants or animals on the jobsite, and how to use and handle flammable liquids properly. These specific topics are high-risk, common issues that OSHA wants to ensure employers address. For example, poison ivy and rabid animals are common issues on construction jobsites.
OSHA’s enforcement policies are a great way to understand how the Agency may apply standards during an inspection at your jobsite and provide further guidance about the standards. For example, here are the two most recent enforcement policies that OSHA previously published:
- On February 6, 2019, an enforcement policy about welding, heating, and cutting in confined spaces; and
- On February 7, 2019, a temporary enforcement policy about crane operator evaluation requirements.