MANAGING BEST PRACTICES: How to anticipate future issues
Have you developed plans to address safety and health opportunities that may occur over the next decade? After all, best practices for managing workplace safety and health require you to develop both short- and long-term plans.
Short-term plans focus on tactics needed to meet goals usually within a timeframe of several months to a year. Long-term plans help address opportunities or challenges that may be five to ten years away.
Long-term planning allows you to better manage time and costs. An average workplace may need several years to qualify for OSHA VPP Star status, for example. And costs are easier for management to budget when spread out over time.
But how do you know what issues may be important five to ten years down the road? One way is to follow safety and health research. Results from research studies will eventually make their way to the shop floor — either through legislation or as an industry- recognized best practice.