You shouldn’t wait until an employee is exposed to or tests positive for the COVID-19 virus. Rather, you should create a facilities plan that will help keep your employees as safe as possible.

Here are some things to consider as you develop your plan:

The Coronavirus continues to make its way across the globe.  As many of us are trying to keep an eye on the impact,  it is a good time to think through potential risks for you and your organization. We owe it to our customers, employees, and communities to ensure health and safety in our business practices.

It has been proven that when safety is treated at the same level of importance as productivity, cost saving and quality, companies save hundreds of thousands of dollars daily by preventing injuries.

How can you incorporate safety in your daily work interactions?

More than a third of workplaces did not submit... Are you on the naughty list?

By the end of 2017, select employers were required to submit 300A forms containing 2016 data. Unfortunately for OSHA, only two-thirds of the anticipated 350,000 submissions were recorded. These organizations are now facing potential scrutiny and fines for these "other-than-serious" citations, and will be conducting inquiries until June 15, 2018.

Did you find yourself on the OSHA target list for not submitting? As a reminder, establishments with 250 or more employees that are currently required to keep OSHA injury and illness records, and establishments with 20-249 employees that are classified in certain industries with historically high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses are required to submit. 

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently released the new ISO 45001 standard for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS). Published on March 12, 2018,  ISO 45001 provides a framework to improve employee safety, reduce workplace risks and create better and safer conditions for workers everywhere.

Written by Lori Amerman, IMEC Operations Coordinator

Hazards of machinery can cause catastrophic injuries when employees come in contact.  Crushing and amputations are devastating to the employee’s quality of life.  The employer is faced with many costs of medical expenses, equipment fixes and training.  According to OSHA’s $afety Pays Program, an amputation on average has a direct cost of $77,995 and indirect of $85,794.  At a 3% profit margin assumption these costs would require an additional $2,859,816 in sales to recover.