NAICS Code: 444111, home centers

Williams Lumber & Home Centers is a family-run hardware and building materials retailer that has been in operation since 1946, employs 27 workers at the Hudson, New York, site, and controls 293 employees corporate-wide. The company’s eight locations service residential and construction customers in the Catskill and Hudson Valley Areas of New York State.

New York State Department of Labor, On-Site Consultation Program (NYS-DOSH), has been working with this employer since 2001. Today, three of the eight Williams Lumber & Home Center locations are active Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP), sites. These locations include the express store in Red Hook and home centers in Hyde Park and Hudson, New York. These SHARP certificates were all awarded in 2016.

SHARP recognizes small business employers who have used OSHA's On-site Consultation Program services and operate an exemplary injury and illness prevention program. Acceptance of a worksite into SHARP from OSHA is an achievement of status that singles an employer out among its business peers as a model for worksite safety and health.

OSHA's On-site Consultation Program offers free, confidential safety and occupational health advice to small and medium-sized businesses in all states across the country and several 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 on compliance with OSHA standards, and assist in establishing injury and illness prevention programs.

This employer contacted the NYS-DOSH initially in an attempt to lower their injury and illness rates. Since being involved with the On-site Consultation Program, the employer has developed a safety committee, comprised of employees that assist with accident and near miss investigations and perform safety inspections of the facilities.

The first consultation full-service safety and health visits to the Hudson, New York, location were performed in September 2014. The company’s Total Recordable Case Rate (TRC) in 2014 was 3.4. In 2015, their TRC rate dropped to zero. Similarly in 2014, the Days Away from Work, Job Transfer and Restriction Rate (DART) was 3.4. The DART rate dropped to zero in 2015. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the industry average TRC rate was 5.9 and DART rate was 4.1 for this NAICS code in 2014. In 2015, BLS found the industry average TRC rate was 5.5 and DART rate was 3.8.

Working with the NYS-DOSH, this employer lowered their TRC and DART rates at the Hudson site, realized a cost savings through a reduction in compensation claims, improved their workplace safety and health culture, and increased management and employee commitment to the safety program. The employer hopes to eventually earn SHARP status for all of its locations and is actively working with the NYS-DOSH to achieve this goal. Williams Lumber & Home Centers is an avid supporter of OSHA’s On-site Consultation Program.

Additional information about OSHA's On-site Consultation Program and other small business resources is available at www.osha.gov or 1-800-321-OSHA (6742).

SOURCE: Thomas Jozefowicz, SPHR^®, SHRM-SCP; VP / Human Resources; Williams Lumber & Home Centers