Kevin Ian Schmidt

Does your company have a workplace safety policy in place? If you don’t, you could be exposing your company to substantial risk. Many states require that companies with employees have a written workplace safety policy and that they hold regular safety committee meetings. Check your state for specific regulations.

A Health & Safety (H&S) policy is a written promise by the Company and specifically Management to provide a healthy and safe workplace for the employees.

Check Out: Employee Safety Manual

Implementing a workplace safety policy and holding monthly safety committee meetings can help protect your company from accidents and lawsuits. Each industry has different concerns and regulations that need to be addressed when establishing a workplace safety policy. To help you create a safety system that will fit your company’s needs, CEO Systems has created “The CEO System: Workplace Safety Policy.” This system will walk you through the steps you need to create a safety policy and implement regular safety meetings.

Establishing your Workplace Safety Policy

Your company’s safety policy should include:

Inspections:

1. Define how often safety inspections shall occur.
   2. Establish the company position responsible for overseeing and performing safety inspections.
   3. Establish the company position responsible for reviewing inspection reports and suggesting changes to implement.

Accidents/Incidents:

1. Document your company’s accident investigation procedures.
   2. Establish the company position responsible for overseeing and performing accident investigations.
   3. Establish the company position responsible for reviewing accident reports and suggesting changes to implement.
   4. Document the company position responsible for ensuring that suggested changes are implemented.

Hazards:

1. Document how hazards are reported to management.
   2. Document the company position responsible for following up on hazard reports.
   3. Document how corrections and preventions will be implanted into daily operations.

Accountability:

1. Establish defined rewards and disciplinary action to keep employees accountable for following the safety procedures.
   2. Document and implement a Reward/incentive program for the number of days without accident.
   3. Document and implement disciplinary action for not following safety procedures.

Check out the safety committee books and meeting notes I have available on Amazon

Safety Meeting System

Safety Meeting Tips:

• Safety meetings can be informal.
• Discuss hazards and how hazards are reported.
• Discuss past and possible future accidents.

What to learn more about establishing a safety committee, check out my post

Keeping proper meeting minutes is key. Check with your state regarding what information is required to be documented.