OSHA Safe + Sound Week

Safe + Sound Week is June 12 – 18

Back in the 14^th century, sailing ships were a primary means of trading goods. To protect goods on these vessels they were insured against loss or damage.  The best news for the insurance companies was to receive word that the ship had returned “safe and sound”. The word “safe” was an indication of all crew members were accounted for without injury. The word “sound” told the company the ship had not suffered any serious damage. Since then we continue to use the phrase in our daily life.

The week of June 12-18 has been designated as the inaugural Nationwide Safe + Sound Week. The week is presented by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), National Safety Council, American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), American Society of Safety Engineers, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health just to name a few. The goal is to “raise awareness and understanding of the value of safety and health programs”. All businesses and companies are encouraged to participate.

The focus of the week is on three core elements. It covers management leadership, worker participation and find and fix hazards. Here is a brief overview of each taken from the OSHA website.

Core Elements:

• Management leadership is a demonstrated commitment at the highest levels of an organization to safety and health. It means that business owners, executives, managers, and supervisors make safety and health a core organizational value, establish goals, provide resources, and set a good example. Because managers and workers take their cues from leadership, it’s important that all leaders throughout an organization show a visible commitment to safety and health.
• Worker participation is meaningfully engaging workers at all levels in establishing, implementing, evaluating, and improving safety and health in the workplace. This means workers understand they are a valuable partner in making their workplace safer and are encouraged and able to communicate with management about hazards on the job. Workers are the experts when it comes to the tasks they do and the tools and equipment they use, which makes them a key resource for knowledge and innovative ideas that can improve safety and health.
• Finding and fixing hazards is a proactive, ongoing process to identify and control sources of potential injuries or illnesses. This means establishing {systemic} procedures to collect and review information about known or potential hazards in the workplace, investigating the root cause of those hazards, and prioritizing hazard controls. Identifying and correcting these hazards before someone gets hurt ensures that workers go home to their families safe and sound after every shift.

Participate in Safe + Sound Week

To prepare your location to participate in the week it is a simple process.

1. Step 1:  Select or plan activities under each of the elements shown above.
2. Step 2:  Plan and promote your events
3. Step 3:  Recognize participation. The website (here) under each element lists a few activities. You just have to click on each topic and decide.

Make the effort to make this week a success for your company. Good business involves keeping workers safe. Use this week to bring new life to your existing safety and health programs or get yours started. If there is anything ICC Compliance Center can do for you to help keep your workers safe, give us a call today.