Process and Benefits

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Small Business Success Stories

Stories of small businesses that have benefited from OSHA's On-Site Consultation Program and SHARP.

Using a no-cost consultation service largely funded by the OSHA, employers can identify and address potential hazards in their workplace and establish or improve safety and health programs.

The service is delivered by state governments using well-trained professional staff. Most consultations take place on-site, though limited services away from the worksite are available.

Primarily targeted for smaller businesses, this safety and health consultation program is completely separate from the OSHA inspection effort. In addition, no citations are issued or penalties proposed.

It's confidential, too. Your name, your firm's name, and any information you provide about your workplace, plus any unsafe or unhealthful working conditions that the consultant uncovers, will not be reported routinely to the OSHA inspection staff.

Your only obligation will be to correct serious job safety and health hazards -- a commitment which you are expected to make prior to the actual visit and carry out in a timely manner.

Benefits

 

Workforce

An effective workplace safety and health programs at your worksite(s) will enable you to:

  • Recognize and remove hazards from your workplace.
  • Protect your workers from injury and illness.
  • Prevent loss of life at your worksite.
  • Cultivate informed and alert employees who take responsibility for their own and their coworkers' safety and for worksite safety as a whole.
  • Improve employee morale.
Management

An increased understanding of workplace hazards and remedies will put your managers in a better position to:

  • Comply with federal and state safety and health requirements.
  • Become more effective at their jobs. Management experts believe that a company with a well-managed safety and health programs enjoys better overall management.
  • Increase productivity rates and assure product quality.
Business

An exemplary workplace safety and health programs is "good business sense" that also makes financial sense because it will allow you to:

  • Learn first-hand that the cost of accident prevention is far lower than the cost of accidents.
  • Improve the bottom line by:
    • Lowering injury and illness rates
    • Decreasing workers' compensation costs
    • Reducing lost workdays
    • Limiting equipment damage and product losses

 

Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP)

If you are a small business employer, you may be eligible for another great benefit - recognition by the state and OSHA through participation in the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP).