OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program offers no-cost and confidential occupational safety and health services to small- and medium-sized businesses in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories, with priority given to high-hazard worksites. On-Site Consultation services are separate from enforcement and do not result in penalties or citations. Consultants from state agencies or universities work with employers to identify workplace hazards, provide advice for compliance with OSHA standards, and assist in establishing and improving safety and health programs.
Process & Benefits
Using a no-cost consultation service largely funded by the OSHA, employers can find out about potential hazards at their worksites, improve their safety and health programs, and even qualify for a one-year exemption from routine OSHA inspections.
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.
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
Source: United States Department of Labor, “On-Site Consultation” https://www.osha.gov website. Accessed March 24, 2021 https://www.osha.gov/consultation
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