Custom Building a Safety and Health Plan, Step Two: How to Successfully Audit
Developing a Safety and Health Plan is similar to researching a new business plan. Step One is to observe the playing field and assess what’s already in place. A program researcher must be able to see the whole field at once. A business plan begins with a simple concept: Provide a product or service because no one else is doing it, or if they are, they aren’t meeting market demands. Likewise, a consciously developed SHP looks for what is missing and focuses on either improving safe work practices or installing adequate hazard controls. It is also a tool for increasing profitability by reducing lost time, saving material and insurance overhead costs, and maximizing manpower potential.
When I ask my contractors where they figure to start with the SHP, they usually pull out their old program from the bottom shelf and, with a big smile, announce, “Right here!” dropping the binder in a cloud of rock-salt dust. This is NOT a renovation job. The best decision you can make is to take a new approach to workplace safety and health. Sponsor a new attitude. Lead your employees by example. Approach your workers with confidence and admit to them, “I don’t know where this will take us, but together we can make ours the safest and healthiest work sites to be found anywhere.”