Button, Button…… Who’s Got the Button?

I dare you, push the Start Here button.  What happens?  What should happen?  What do you want to happen?

That’s the first step.  What do you want to happen?  It colors everything else that does happen.  Is your objective OSHA compliance or do you want a Safely Working Environment?  In the last post I said that there was no Start Here button at OSHA.gov.  But, they do provide some guidance.  In the OSHA recommended “Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines” the first element in a program is “Management Commitment and Employee Involvement.”  There’s no question that getting everyone on the same page is the most important objective.

So, the first step might be to prepare a statement committing to empowering employees and supervisors to build a Safely Working Environment.  Feel better now?  However, it’s not needed at the moment as we want to keep the guidance simple, sensible and easy to implement.

So, before you do that, adopt Safe 6.  Make it your workplace mantra.  Put it at the top of the list of workplace rules and requirements.  Make it the one rule to rule them all for your Safely Working Environment.  We’ve already discussed how Safe 6 fits into the workplace.  If you missed that discussion, you can be access the series of posts on the Safe 6 Pack page.

Hopefully, we sold you on the concept because Safe 6 is the real first step.  It is the START HERE button.  If employees and supervisors do nothing but use Safe 6 on the job, the Safely Working Environment is being shaped.  Everything else that you do supports “Safely Working 100% of the Time.”

Once we make Safe 6 the rule, we can build the Safely Working Environment around it.   So, familiarize yourself all 6 aspects that shape the Safely Working Environment.  We posted an overview a while back.  Check it out here.

• Activities – Workplace Activities and Conditions
• Awareness – Workplace Knowledge and Information
• Avoidance – Workplace Issues and Mishaps
• Abilities – Employee Skills
• Attitude – Employee Values
• Assets – Employee Lifestyle

A Safely Working Environment will prevent dangerous conditions and unsafe behaviors.  Safe 6 is a its core.

(Originally published 2/3/15)