Every year, more than four million workers suffer injury or are killed at or due to their jobs. In an effort to reduce these numbers, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched a Safe and Sound program. The goal of this program is to assist smaller businesses in developing health and safety programs that reduce the risk to workers.
To this end, OSHA has made a number of resources available to small and mid-sized businesses at no cost. Along with the free materials available on OSHA’s website, including all of the data on their Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs page, the administration is also making training materials and educational resources available.
Per OSHA, there are a variety of ways to tackle safety programs and make them successful. However, there are a few things that all workable plans have in common. One key element is ensuring that both management and employees are involved in the process. If managers aren’t ensuring that systems are being followed and employees aren’t focusing on workplace safety, safety programs won’t be as helpful as they could be. Additionally, it’s important that plans involve constantly being on the lookout for potential dangers and ways to mitigate them.
Even if someone works for an employer focused on keeping a workplace safe, some workplace injuries are unavoidable. In these situations, workers’ compensation can ensure that a person’s medical bills and treatments are paid for. Benefits from workers’ compensation can cover part of a person’s lost wages if they are not able to work due to injury as well as treatments and medications required to recover from an injury. If someone is filing a claim or wants to have a denied claim reviewed, a lawyer could assist throughout the process.