Build your case for a safety and health program:

• Assess the reasons your business needs a safety and health program.
• Choose a team of safety champions to help form your program and drive change.

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Write a safety and health policy for your workplace:

• Draft a policy that reflects your values.
• Get feedback on the draft policy.
• Revise and sign the policy.

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Spread the message about your safety and health policy:

• Share your policy with everyone in your company:
• Listen for feedback and concerns.
• Ensure that everyone understands their role in the program.

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Turn policy statements into goals for your safety and health program:

• Set specific, realistic, measurable goals for your program.
• Use both lagging and leading indicators.
• Set both short-term and long-term goals.

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Communicate your commitment to reaching your program goals:

• Brainstorm a variety of ways to communicate your program goals.
• Develop messages that focus on prevention, leading by example, and concrete actions.

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Define the resources you need to start, run, and meet the goals of your safety and health program:

• Identify resources needed to achieve program goals.
• Make sure you allocate adequate resources for workers to participate fully.

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Set a budget for managing safety and health as part of your financial plan and operations:

• Examine your current budget for managing safety and health.
• Estimate costs of resources you identified.
• Integrate safety into your ongoing budgeting process.
• Fund your program, including hazard assessment/control activities.

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Assign roles and responsibilities to achieve program goals:

• Assign roles and responsibilities for managers, supervisors, and workers.
• Make sure people have the authority they need to fulfill their roles.

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Set specific expectations for safety and health assignments and monitor performance:

• Set specific expectations for safety and health assignments.
• Monitor performance to help evaluate and improve the program.

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Understand why worker participation is key to a successful program:

• Work with your safety champions to review the current safety and health policy.
• Make sure the policy includes statements that highlight the value of worker participation.

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Inform workers of their rights:

• Understand workers' rights and prohibition against retaliation.
• Brainstorm how and when you will inform workers of their rights.

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Get workers involved in your safety and health program:

• Identify ways to get workers involved.
• Set up a process to follow through quickly on concerns and suggestions.
• Brainstorm new ways to encourage worker participation in your safety and health program.

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Give workers the time and resources needed to participate in your safety and health program:

• Review opportunities for worker participation.
• Build in time and resources so workers can use these opportunities. 
• Complete an activity to determine how to provide time and resources for worker participation.

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Encourage workers to report safety and health concerns:

• Set up a reporting process.
• Ensure everybody understands the reporting process.
• Ensure management responds promptly to worker safety concerns.
• Complete a training activity that helps you design a reporting system.

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Give workers access to up-to-date information on safety hazards and controls:

• Prepare a list of information you are required to give workers.
• Brainstorm ways to make this information readily available.
• Keep the information up to date.

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Involve the workers in identifying hazards in the workplace:

• Understand the definition of a workplace hazard.
• Involve workers in the process of identifying workplace hazards.
• Start a conversation with workers about hazards on the job and setting priorities for hazard control.

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Review other sources of hazard identification:

• Find and review sources of information to help identify hazards.
• Include all worksites, areas, and tasks when identifying hazards.
• Review relevant safety and health information before making changes in the workplace.

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Identify hazards and hazardous situations:

• With workers, do an initial inspection of work areas with workers.
• Set up routine inspections.
• Follow up to correct hazards.

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Investigate injuries, illnesses, and near misses:

• With worker involvement, investigate all incidents as soon as possible.
• Develop a plan for investigating incidents.
• Find and correct the root causes of incidents to prevent future incidents.

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Develop plans and procedures to prevent and respond to emergencies:

• Identify potential emergencies.
• Identify hazards that might come up during emergency response.
• Use the results to set priorities for control.

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Address hazards during nonroutine situations:

• Identify nonroutine or rare activities in the workplace.
• Brainstorm hazards that workers could face during these tasks.
• Use the results to set priorities for control.

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Prioritize hazards identified to focus on the biggest risks:

• Compile your list of hazards.
• Ask workers which they consider most dangerous.
• Assess the risks and prioritize.
• Keep the list up to date.

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Identify and evaluate controls for hazards in your workplace:

• Gather information about controls.
• Use the hierarchy of controls to prioritize control methods.
• Consult with workers and outside experts.
• Complete an activity to identify new or better hazard controls.

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Select effective controls for workplace hazards:

• Review key considerations for selecting controls.
• Consult with workers on impacts of new controls.
• Address new hazards created by controls.
• Complete an activity that helps your team choose a control for each workplace hazard.

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Develop your Emergency Action Plan:

• Review the possible emergency situations.
• With worker input, develop an emergency action plan to address each situation.
• Secure resources to implement the plan.
• Complete an activity that helps you write your Emergency Action Plan.

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Update your hazard control plan:

• With worker input, determine how to implement each hazard control.
• Publicize and distribute the final hazard control plan.
• Review and revise the plan as needed.
• Complete an activity that helps you plan, track, and update the hazard control plan.

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Implement workplace hazard controls:

• Identify manageable steps to start implementing the hazard control plan.
• Anticipate potential obstacles.
• Monitor progress and adjust.
• Complete an activity to anticipate and overcome obstacles to implementation.

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Ensure the effectiveness of workplace hazard controls:

• Ensure proper installation, monitoring, and maintenance of hazard controls.
• With worker involvement, conduct inspections and track the effectiveness of controls.
• Conduct routine preventive maintenance.
• Complete an activity to evaluate the effectiveness of a hazard control.

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Build successful program awareness training:

• Identify the key topics for program awareness training.
• Make sure all workers can understand and participate in the training.
• Develop training on emergency procedures.
• Complete an activity to design three short training activities related to the program's structure, goals, or procedures.

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Address gaps in your training program:

• Conduct a survey or assessment of the current status of training.
• Use the survey results and other sources of information to identify gaps in your training program.

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Identify the job-specific training needs for your program:

• Interview workers to identify hazards, controls, and job-specific training needs.
• Use results and any outside help needed to create a training plan.

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Train workers, managers, and supervisors on their program roles:

• Create a plan to conduct training on skills needed to fulfill program roles.
• Monitor the effectiveness of this training.
• Track training by topic.
• Complete an activity to plan short trainings sessions to be delivered over four to six months.

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Train workers in hazard recognition and control to reduce the risk of injury and illness:

• Create job-specific training.
• Train workers on how to identify and report hazards.
• Make sure everyone can understand the training.
• Document the training.

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Determine the performance and progress of your safety and health program:

• Select and train your evaluation team.
• Track progress toward your targets and goals.
• Develop a step-by-step process for monitoring program performance and progress.

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Ensure your program is working as intended and get closer to your safety and health goals:

• Review the implementation of core program elements.
• Develop questions to evaluate if your safety and health plan is in place and working.
• Document and communicate your findings.

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Work with supervisors, managers, and workers to correct program shortcomings:

• Seek input on how to improve your safety and health program.
• Promptly correct problems in your program.
• Update the program as the workplace changes.
• Change goals and indicators as needed.

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Establish effective communication and coordination among host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies:

• Understand the unique hazards of temporary and contract work.
• Plan for open, transparent communication and coordination.
• Complete an activity to brainstorm the communication and coordination needs of your business.

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