Bedford Care Center Hattiesburg (BCCH) is a skilled nursing facility located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It offers 120 beds specializing in skilled long-term care and short term sub-acute rehabilitation to transition residents back into normal life in the community.

In May 2008 BCCH began its relationship with the Mississippi On-Site Consultation Program. The program assisted the facility in staff safety, reducing work time loss, and reducing workers compensations costs. Additional measures taken following Consultation visits included:

• updating facility policies, including footwear mandates,
• providing education on footwear, lift equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE), and
• installing additional eye wash stations.

With the assistance of the Mississippi On-Site Consultation Program, BCCH achieved Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) status in August of 2009. In the fifteen years that BCCH has maintained its SHARP status, it has continued to remain in compliance with OSHA requirements and has brought down work loss time and number of reported injuries. This has had a positive impact on insurance cost. Staff members of all disciplines from every department are involved in safety meetings and are responsible for doing facility audits throughout the year. This enables them to become familiar with other departments and how they function safely.

Bedford Care Center received its latest SHARP renewal in April of 2024. SHARP acknowledges small and medium-sized businesses that have used OSHA On-Site Consultation Program services and operate exemplary workplace safety and health programs. Small businesses that achieve SHARP status receive a deferral from OSHA or the State Plan programmed inspections for the period that the SHARP designation is valid. Acceptance of a worksite into SHARP is an achievement that identifies the employer as a model for occupational safety and health among its business peers.

Companies interested in SHARP can contact their local OSHA On-Site Consultation program to discuss details and schedule an onsite safety and health evaluation. OSHA 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. Consultants from state agencies or universities work with employers to identify workplace hazards and how to fix them, provide advice for compliance with OSHA standards, train and educate workers, and assist in establishing and improving safety and health programs. On-Site Consultation services are separate from OSHA enforcement efforts. To locate the OSHA On-Site Consultation program nearest you, call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) or visit www.osha.gov/consultation.