Report on OSHA Alliance Program: Benefits for Employer & Employee Safety & Health

Introduction

The OSHA Alliance Program is a voluntary agreement signed between OSHA and parties that promote workplace safety. The advantages of participating in the OSHA Alliance program include increased access to information concerning workers’ rights, safety, and health tools; thus, it raises awareness concerning the employees’ rights and employers’ responsibilities in the workplace. Another benefit is that it improves employees’ health, safety protections, and information exchange through training, thus ensuring organizations deliver a professional safety program to their employees. The program’s high-level training helps organizations reduce costs for wages, and medical, and production losses incurred due to safety-related injuries. Besides, OSHA usually gives appropriate tools and information to high-hazard industries to prevent work-related illnesses or injuries. The program also encourages future employee participation in maintaining a safe and healthy workplace. Finally, the program allows employees and their employers to resolve workplace issues that may not have been addressed before; workers can openly address their safety interests from personal experience giving insight to corporate leaders.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The Roles of Challenge Administrators

OSHA Challenge programs take qualified volunteers to act as Administrators for Challenge participants; however, these administrators must have experience in safety and health management systems and show commitment toward pilot program achievement. Their main role is to encourage, assist, track, and regularly report to OSHA on the improvements made by Challenge Participants. They develop and improve the health and safety management systems of the challenge participants through training, mentoring, and progress-tracking and are committed to delivering the program’s three-stage process. In the first step, they educate the participants on the elements necessary to implement and develop effective health and safety management programs. They then challenge participants to create and implement the policies or programs successfully; participants are required to begin incorporating requirements for the special trade contractor safety policies and improve the safety programs as guided. Finally, the challenge administrators ask them to reassess, monitor, and improve the implemented safety programs. OSHA then provides the challenge participants with letters of recognition after the successful completion of the three stages.

Procedures for Achieving Star Status under OSHA's VPP

Companies first apply for certification depending on the OSHA’s set performance-based criteria to achieve Star status under OSHA’s VPP. The OSHA review team then does verification; the verification process involves an application review and a precise on-site evaluation. The process of obtaining VPP takes approximately two to three years. The review team establishes and confirms the four VPP core elements’ existence, which the applicant must have in place one year before the on-site review; injury and illness rates should also be below the industry average. OSHA conducts comprehensive employee interviews during the review process; the interviews usually serve as an excellent measure of an organization’s overall safety and health program. They strictly examine work practices that may be experiencing a high number of incidents. The OSHA team then meets on the last day to draft a report detailing its findings based on safety and health conditions, and information collected from formal and informal interviews. Finally, they discuss their recommendations concerning the implementation of VPP elements, safety, and health management systems.

The OSHA team then decides if the company meets the conditions for the following VPP star status designations or resolves if the firm is not eligible for any designations and suggests improvements to re-apply. For a company to acquire star status recognition, it must show excellent implementation and achievement concerning the prevention and control of safety and health hazards management.

OSHA voluntary cooperative program beneficial to a small business

OSHA usually provides safety and health support for small businesses, and the best voluntary cooperative program for such companies is the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). The plan acknowledges small business owners practicing OSHA’s on-site Consultation Program offers services and promotes an excellent illness and injury prevention and control program. Recognition of small business workplaces into SHARP from OSHA is considered attainment of status that identifies one out among other business rivals in workplace safety and health design. When a business is initially declared a SHARP site, it will be conferred an exemption from OSHA-programmed reviews for two years. After the original certification, one may request a SHARP renewal of up to three years. OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program gives special occupational safety and health assistance to small businesses at no cost. Such services are different from enforcement, thus not usually resulting in citations or penalties; the business owners’ only responsibility is to correct critical job safety and health risks. Consultants from some universities or state agencies work with employers to determine workplace risks, advise on compliance with OSHA rules, and improve or establish safety and health programs. Free consultation services lower injury and illness rates, eventually saving both employees and their employers from the cost of injuries while boosting morale and productivity rates.