Criteria for the best safety and health programs (7/19)
Benchmark your program against these questions. The more affirmative answers, except for the OSHA questions and the question about incentive programs, the most you’re on your way to safety and health excellence.
1 Do you have a corporate social responsibility program?
2 Do you have staff dedicated to CSR?
3 Do you have a corporate sustainability program?
4 Do you have staff dedicated to sustainability?
5 Are you a member of VPP?
6 Are you OHSAS 18001 certified?
7 Are you ISO 14001 certified?
8 Do you operate a formal, documented S&H management system?
9 Is you recordable OSHA injury-illness rate better than your industry average?
10 Have you had an OSHA inspection triggered by an employee complaint in the past 3 years?
11 Have you had an OSHA inspection triggered by a fatality or multiple injury incident in the past 3 years?
12 Do each of your employees received more than 24 hours of safety training per year?
13 Is the ratio of your S&H full-time professional staff at least 1 to every 200 employees?
15 Do you have a formal health promotion program to boost employee overall health?
16 Do you have a formal off-the-job safety program for employees?
17 Does your S&H full-time professional staff have more than 20 years experience combined?
18 Does the majority of your S&H full-time professional staff have CIH or CSP certifications?
20 Are the annual salary increases of your managers and supervisors in part linked to S&H performance?
21 Do you conduct annual S&H perception surveys of employees?
22 Do you have a formal ergonomics program?
23 Do you have a formal return-to-work program for injured employees?
25 Do you conduct facility-wide S&H audits at least on a monthly basis?
26 Do you have a formal, documented process for identifying and ensuring the abatement of S&H hazards?
27 Do you have a formal, documented process for responding to employee S&H complaints or concerns?
28 Are your managers and supervisors actively, personally involved in safety meeting participating, audits, analyzing and acting on near-miss reports and actual incidents?
29 Do you benchmark your S&H programs against other companies?
30 Do you have a formal, document reporting system for near-miss incidents?
31 Do you have formal, document and continuous S&H communications between managers, supers and employees?
32 Are managers and supervisors on a first-name basis with employees?
33 Do employees have the authority to shut down the line if hazards are present?
34 Are managers, supervisors and employees given formal, documented annual S&H expectations and responsibilities? Defined S&H roles?
35 Is safety an agenda item at regular management-only meetings?
36 Do your employees and supers hold pre-job safety briefings?
37 Have S&H total budgetary resources increased every year for the past five years?
38 Do you measure at least annually the S&H competency of supers?
39 Do you measure at least annually the S&H competency of managers?
40 Do you measure at least annually the S&H competency of employees?
41 Do you consistently screen the pre-qualifications of contractor in terms of S&H competency?
42 Do you annually set facility-wide S&H goals and monitor progress toward those goals?
43 Do your employees spend more than 24 hours monthly in S&H related activities (classroom training and committee meetings, planning, tailgate talks, pre-project and pre-task planning, observations, auditing, investigations).
44 Do your employees engage regularly in one-on-one S&H coaching and feedback?
45 Are your employees paid for extra-curricular S&H roles and responsibilities?
46 Is medical treatment for employee injuries and illness available within a ten-minute timeframe?
47 Is fire service in the event of an emergency available within a ten minute timeframe?
48 Do you have formal, documented business continuity plans in the event of a natural or process disaster?
49 Do you have a formal, document program for community outreach and communication?
50 In the event of a fatality or serious injury, does the top executive at your location take responsibility for notifying next of kin?
51 Do new employees receive at least 8 hours or S&H orientation training?
52 Do new employees receive a “mentoring” buddy to develop S&H awareness and skills?
53 Do you have a formal, documented promoting for eliciting S&H ideas, suggestions from employees?
54 Do you permit employees to choose their own PPE?
55 Do you design-in S&H features when adding to or renovating facilities?
56 Do employees spend at least 8 hours per week on facility housekeeping?
57 Do you regularly use formal, document “proactive” and/or upstream S&H performance measurement metrics such as audit scores, housekeeping surveillance, near-misses, employee wellness tests (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.)?
58 Does your facility have in-house capabilities to respond to and clean up hazardous materials spills or incidents?
59 Does your facility conduct at least annual disaster rehearsals / employee evacuation plans?
60 Does your facility have documented permissible exposure limits (PELs) that are lower than federal OSHA’s PELs?
61 Does your facility conduct regular, documented exposure monitoring by in-house staff?
62 Does your facility at least annually analyze injury/illness records for trends relating to injury illness types, most frequent time of injury, most frequent department, etc.?
63 Do you set goals, plans, activities to reduce injuries and illnesses based on this analysis?
64 Does your facility conduct mock OSHA inspections?
65 Does your facility discourage the use of incentive reward programs that can encourage under-reporting of injuries?
66 Does your facility have a document accountability program to ensure that managers, supers and employees carry out their assigned safety responsibilities competently?
67 Does your facility have a formal, documented process for handling employees, supers and managers who resist S&H rules and policies?
68 Can employees raise S&H concerns or complaints without fear of reprisal or discipline?
69 Does your facility conduct regular, formal, documented risk assessments to identify and prioritize for abatement, low, medium and high risks?
70 Are risk assessment findings made available or otherwise communicated to all employees?
71 Are incident investigation findings made available or otherwise communicated to all employees?
72 Are exposure monitoring results made available to all employees?
73 Are S&H audit findings made available to all employees?
74 Do your employees have a regular, documented role in developing or revising S&H rules, plans, priorities and goals?
1 Do you have a corporate social responsibility program?
2 Do you have staff dedicated to CSR?
3 Do you have a corporate sustainability program?
4 Do you have staff dedicated to sustainability?
5 Are you a member of VPP?
6 Are you OHSAS 18001 certified?
7 Are you ISO 14001 certified?
8 Do you operate a formal, documented S&H management system?
9 Is you recordable OSHA injury-illness rate better than your industry average?
10 Have you had an OSHA inspection triggered by an employee complaint in the past 3 years?
11 Have you had an OSHA inspection triggered by a fatality or multiple injury incident in the past 3 years?
12 Do each of your employees received more than 24 hours of safety training per year?
13 Is the ratio of your S&H full-time professional staff at least 1 to every 200 employees?
15 Do you have a formal health promotion program to boost employee overall health?
16 Do you have a formal off-the-job safety program for employees?
17 Does your S&H full-time professional staff have more than 20 years experience combined?
18 Does the majority of your S&H full-time professional staff have CIH or CSP certifications?
20 Are the annual salary increases of your managers and supervisors in part linked to S&H performance?
21 Do you conduct annual S&H perception surveys of employees?
22 Do you have a formal ergonomics program?
23 Do you have a formal return-to-work program for injured employees?
25 Do you conduct facility-wide S&H audits at least on a monthly basis?
26 Do you have a formal, documented process for identifying and ensuring the abatement of S&H hazards?
27 Do you have a formal, documented process for responding to employee S&H complaints or concerns?
28 Are your managers and supervisors actively, personally involved in safety meeting participating, audits, analyzing and acting on near-miss reports and actual incidents?
29 Do you benchmark your S&H programs against other companies?
30 Do you have a formal, document reporting system for near-miss incidents?
31 Do you have formal, document and continuous S&H communications between managers, supers and employees?
32 Are managers and supervisors on a first-name basis with employees?
33 Do employees have the authority to shut down the line if hazards are present?
34 Are managers, supervisors and employees given formal, documented annual S&H expectations and responsibilities? Defined S&H roles?
35 Is safety an agenda item at regular management-only meetings?
36 Do your employees and supers hold pre-job safety briefings?
37 Have S&H total budgetary resources increased every year for the past five years?
38 Do you measure at least annually the S&H competency of supers?
39 Do you measure at least annually the S&H competency of managers?
40 Do you measure at least annually the S&H competency of employees?
41 Do you consistently screen the pre-qualifications of contractor in terms of S&H competency?
42 Do you annually set facility-wide S&H goals and monitor progress toward those goals?
43 Do your employees spend more than 24 hours monthly in S&H related activities (classroom training and committee meetings, planning, tailgate talks, pre-project and pre-task planning, observations, auditing, investigations).
44 Do your employees engage regularly in one-on-one S&H coaching and feedback?
45 Are your employees paid for extra-curricular S&H roles and responsibilities?
46 Is medical treatment for employee injuries and illness available within a ten-minute timeframe?
47 Is fire service in the event of an emergency available within a ten minute timeframe?
48 Do you have formal, documented business continuity plans in the event of a natural or process disaster?
49 Do you have a formal, document program for community outreach and communication?
50 In the event of a fatality or serious injury, does the top executive at your location take responsibility for notifying next of kin?
51 Do new employees receive at least 8 hours or S&H orientation training?
52 Do new employees receive a “mentoring” buddy to develop S&H awareness and skills?
53 Do you have a formal, documented promoting for eliciting S&H ideas, suggestions from employees?
54 Do you permit employees to choose their own PPE?
55 Do you design-in S&H features when adding to or renovating facilities?
56 Do employees spend at least 8 hours per week on facility housekeeping?
57 Do you regularly use formal, document “proactive” and/or upstream S&H performance measurement metrics such as audit scores, housekeeping surveillance, near-misses, employee wellness tests (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.)?
58 Does your facility have in-house capabilities to respond to and clean up hazardous materials spills or incidents?
59 Does your facility conduct at least annual disaster rehearsals / employee evacuation plans?
60 Does your facility have documented permissible exposure limits (PELs) that are lower than federal OSHA’s PELs?
61 Does your facility conduct regular, documented exposure monitoring by in-house staff?
62 Does your facility at least annually analyze injury/illness records for trends relating to injury illness types, most frequent time of injury, most frequent department, etc.?
63 Do you set goals, plans, activities to reduce injuries and illnesses based on this analysis?
64 Does your facility conduct mock OSHA inspections?
65 Does your facility discourage the use of incentive reward programs that can encourage under-reporting of injuries?
66 Does your facility have a document accountability program to ensure that managers, supers and employees carry out their assigned safety responsibilities competently?
67 Does your facility have a formal, documented process for handling employees, supers and managers who resist S&H rules and policies?
68 Can employees raise S&H concerns or complaints without fear of reprisal or discipline?
69 Does your facility conduct regular, formal, documented risk assessments to identify and prioritize for abatement, low, medium and high risks?
70 Are risk assessment findings made available or otherwise communicated to all employees?
71 Are incident investigation findings made available or otherwise communicated to all employees?
72 Are exposure monitoring results made available to all employees?
73 Are S&H audit findings made available to all employees?
74 Do your employees have a regular, documented role in developing or revising S&H rules, plans, priorities and goals?
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