Page 76 - Serious Incident Prevention How to Achieve and Sustain Accident-Free Operations in Your Plant or Company

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54 Serious Incident Prevention

their own. It’s the same with workplace initiatives. Passion is limited
to initiatives where individuals are involved and feel ownership.
Such commitment is critical for sustaining the long-term, task-ori-
ented process of serious incident prevention.

An OSHA Perspective on
Employee Participation

The critical role of employee involvement in workplace safety is recog-
nized by OSHA through requirements for the agency’s prestigious STAR
program administered through its Voluntary Protection Program (VPP).
Employee involvement is a cornerstone of the program, which is based
upon the best safety and health practices found in American industry.
OSHA considers employee participation to be particularly important in the
following functions and activities:

Safety observations
Safety and health problem-solving groups
Safety and health training of other employees
Analysis of job hazards
Committees that plan and conduct safety and health awareness
programs
Reporting of safety concerns to management. 6

In addition to VPP program guidelines, OSHA has also published a
document entitled Voluntary Safety and Health Program Management
Guidelines. These guidelines, which are a distillation of successful safety
and health management practices in the United States, identify management
commitment and employee involvement as key elements for successful
safety programs.
Specifically, the OSHA document recognizes the value of:

A worksite safety policy on safe and healthful work and working
conditions stated so that all personnel understand the priority of
safety and health protection in relation to other organizational objec-
tives
Clear safety goals, with plans for meeting the goals that are under-
stood by all personnel responsible for goal achievement.
Top management involvement in implementing the program.