Planning

OSHA requires written plans on many safety subjects and on safety itself.  The more written plans employers have that are actually followed, the better prepared you will be. 

Not all employers need to write a safety plan for every subject.  If a construction company never encounters trenching, they may not need a full written plan dealing with trenching. Trenching should, however, be mentioned in some section as a recognized hazard that the company will deal with on a case basis.

A full, strategic, operational business plan contains dozens of categories such as marketing, finances, competitive, HR and more.  We focus here on three specific plans: Safety, Emergency, Contingency.

A good plan should be written, should name the person/department responsible for developing, maintaining and enforcing the plan.  A plan identifies risks, goals and the action that shall be taken to minimize or eliminate hazards. Think about the three P’s: Plan, Prevent and Protect.

A full Safety Plan should include 20 to 50 sub-plans that each cover a specific hazard or action.  A Fire Plan, for instance covers the risks at the facility for fires or explosions. How fluids or compressed gasses are received, labeled, stored and handled. Include how Hot Work (welding, cutting, grinding) are handled and the permitting process.  The Fire Plan should refer to the Emergency Plan which includes what to do in case something goes wrong.

An Emergency Plan is exactly what it implies: what shall be done in case of emergency – if something goes wrong. What part of the building or work site is to be evacuated, who is in charge of deciding on the evacuation and who manages the process.  Where are the exits?  … the alarms?  … the gathering points after evacuation?  How are workers accounted for at the gathering point(s)?

A Contingency Plan is what to do after an emergency.  Most insurance companies require a Contingency Plan.  The best way to write a Contingency Plan is to begin as if everything has been totally destroyed then work backwards to more confined destruction.  Start as if a hurricane, tornado, explosion has just destroyed everything in the company.  Is your data protected by back-up in another part of the country?  [Small business should consider backing up on one of the online pay services such as Mozy or Carbonite.  Google and Amazon offer more limited, specialized storage, but it is free.] 

In the Contingency Plan, answer where you will store equipment that has not been destroyed – a suitable facility may be hundreds of miles away. Who will do the work – employees and contractors may be trying to survive themselves.

Protect your employees and other assets the best you can.  In any case, do not fail to have written plans to cover all of your business.

See our Web site: SafetyRich