What is OSHA?

OSHA stands for “Occupational safety and health administration”. Its mission is to give safety training, safety advice, safety inspections, and safety investigations into potential hazards that workers can encounter.

This article will cover what OSHA is, the benefits of working with them, and what you need to know about filing a complaint against your employer if they are not adhering to safety standards.

What does OSHA do? 

The first goal of OSHA is to help prevent injuries and deaths at work. Every year thousands of employees become injured or die because they worked in dangerous conditions without any knowledge of how or why those conditions might harm them. The best way to avoid injury at work by receiving safety training from qualified safety trainers. 

The second goal of OSHA is to improve safety standards, which affects all employees. When safety standards are improved by giving safety inspections and safety investigations into potential hazards that can be addressed, it will affect everyone. It makes the workplace safer for workers so that any employee using the equipment or working in those conditions has a better chance at avoiding injury or death.

What are safety inspections?

A safety inspection is when an OSHA representative comes into your facility to ensure that you are adhering to all safety standards set forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The act was put into place because there were too many employers who did not care about their employee’s safety. This act ensures that all employees receive proper safety trainings. 

An OSHA safety inspection can be either announced or unannounced. If it is an announced safety inspection, the safety representative will let you know that they are coming and when they are coming. Unannounced safety inspections do not give any notice; OSHA representatives can walk into your workplace at any time without warning. 

Every safety inspection typically takes less than a day to complete. They like to inspect areas where accidents typically happen first: job sites and locker rooms/showers. Generally speaking, OSHA safety inspectors conduct safety inspections to prevent injuries and fatalities from happening, but if there were too many violations found during the safety inspection then fines could be handed out as well as citations given for those violations.

What should I do if I work in an area where safety standards are disregarded?

If you work in an area of your workplace where safety standards are not being adhered to, it is best to have a safety representative come into the facility. The safety representative will conduct safety inspections to reduce the chance at any injuries occurring because safety standards were not met. 

OSHA representatives can help employers understand why certain safety measures should be followed and how they can proactively fix problems that could result in injuries or fatalities. 

When filing a complaint about safety violations, follow these guidelines:

– Be sure that you are refraining from engaging in any type of retaliation for reporting safety concerns because if you participate in retaliatory acts against another employee who reported safety concerns then you can be fired from your job.

– Write down everything that you feel is a safety concern and the date that these safety concerns were first noticed. Keep track of how long it has gone on. 

– Give this information to the safety rep so that they can conduct safety inspections to fix any problems before someone gets hurt or dies because safety standards were not met. 

Filing complaints about safety training is the best way to ensure that everyone at your workplace receives proper safety training so employees are less likely to get injured or killed because they do not know what to do when an accident happens. 

If someone refuses to provide safety training, document it with dates and times so you have proof of it happening if OSHA happens to conduct safety inspections.

OSHA Training

For your OSHA training, consider hiring ROI Safety Services. We offer safety training and safety inspections that will ensure safety standards in your workplace are met. 

For more information, call 714.520.1608