Risk management in the workplace requires knowledge of several areas, including state and federal safety regulations, basic health and safety practices, and how to train your employees to follow your company's safety procedures. Whether you oversee risk and safety management at your own company, or provide third-party consulting services to other businesses, you'll need to learn the basics of workplace risk management and learn new skills as trends and methods change.

You have a number of resources to choose from as you plan your safety risk management training. Workplace safety risk management education and training options include:

1. Receiving certification in workplace health and safety risk management
2. Finding training tailored to your industry and type of business
3. Receiving online training in worker safety risk management
   

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Obtain certification in workplace safety risk management

Obtaining certification in workplace health and safety risk management ensures that your company's practices comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines.

I recommend: The National Association of Safety Professionals offers OSHA training in both a classroom setting and with distance education classes. NASP offers its certification training in a general version and a version just for the construction industry. Many colleges and universities, such as the continuing education extension at the University of California-Riverside, also offer training for a certificate in workplace health and safety. UCR's program is designed for personnel in both the public and private sector.

Find employee safety risk management training customized for your industry

While some workplace safety risks are common to any business, others are specific to certain industries. Make sure your company safety risk management program addresses your industry's unique challenges.

I recommend: The Nonprofit Risk Management Center offers training in a wide variety of risk topics, including risk management basics, managing volunteer risk, protecting youth, driver and vehicle safety, managing facility risks, and risk management for sports and recreation programs. At the Centers for Disease Control website, the Workplace Health and Safety section includes industry-specific workplace safety information and resources.

Educate your entire staff with online training in safety risk management

Online risk and safety management training makes it easier to train entire departments or even your whole staff. Instead of sending them to time-consuming offsite training, you can educate them on safety procedures with minimal time spent away from the job.

I recommend: Mastery offers hundreds of online safety training for individuals and businesses. The training complies with OSHA standards, and participants can earn a certificate and continuing education credits. SafetyResources offers online safety training in English and in Spanish.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Companies often hire safety risk management consultants to evaluate risk factors at their workplace, but many consultants will also train employees or help set up an ongoing training program.
• •  Consider including risk and safety management training as part of your new employee training process. This will ensure that every member of your team understands workplace risks and how to prevent them.

Risk management in the workplace is about more than preventing lawsuits or lowering your insurance costs; it's also about showing current and prospective employees, as well as the community, that you're a responsible employer who cares about your worker's well-being. Making workplace health and safety risk management a priority can increase productivity, by minimizing lost hours caused by worker injury.

Workplace safety risk management requires taking a meticulous look at everything in your office, from the desks where your employees work, to the equipment they use to manufacture your product. When creating a worker safety risk management program, consider:

1. What workplace safety risks are common in your industry
2. What hazards or risks you've encountered in the past
3. What preventative measures are required by state or federal law

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Know the laws about risk and safety management

Federal and state guidelines are a good place to start when putting together a company safety risk management program. These laws address the most common workplace hazards, and complying with them helps you stay legal and enhance your risk management efforts.

I recommend: The Occupational Health and Safety Act set the standard for workplace safety. Make sure your workplace meets OSHA standards; get compliance assistance or find your regional office. The U.S. Department of Labor website has a workplace health and safety section, including a list of laws and links to the agencies that oversee workplace health and safety.

Get training in workplace safety risks

With all the factors you need to look at, it can be tough to create a comprehensive safety program for your company. Safety management training can help you make sure you cover all the bases.

I recommend: PureSafety offers online safety training and risk management software; check out their OSHA Essentials course. SafetyResources offers online safety training in English and Spanish.

Make sure your workplace risk management program is specific to your industry

As with any business practice, your risk management program will be far more effective if it's tailored to your type of organization.

I recommend: The Nonprofit Risk Management Center offers guidance on volunteer risk management. At the Centers for Disease Control website, the Workplace Health and Safety section includes information on many workplace safety risks, listed by kind of hazard, by medical condition and by industry.

Hire a consultant to assist in employee safety risk management

Confused about OSHA standards? Looking for the most cost-effective ways to protect employees? A safety risk management consultant can offer you guidance and these questions, and pretty much anything else you need to know. And, they've seen what works and what doesn't from the other companies they've counseled, so you can learn from the experiences of other organizations.

I recommend: The Society of Risk Management Consultants website includes a guide to selecting a consultant, as well as an online directory of its members. At riskVue, an online risk management magazine, download a free white paper on choosing and using a risk management consultant.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Your employees are a key part of safety risk management at work; in fact, it's their cooperation and participation that will make a risk management program successful. Provide thorough safety and risk management training for all employees, and make sure they understand exactly what is required to create a safer workplace.

Risk management is the process an organization takes to assess potential risks of injury to employees in the workplace, identifying what measures can reduce or eliminate those risks, implementing those measures into the operations of the organization, providing safety training and continually monitoring the program.

Resources to assist organizations with their workplace safety risk management program include OSHA Regulations; Health Hazard Evaluations; Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluations; and Material Safety Data Sheets that are readily available should a situation occur.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Risk management

Workplace safety risk management involves the measures taken by an organization such as training, issuance of safety equipment and implementation of operating procedures to reduce the possibility of injury to employees.

I recommend: The Quantum Risk Management site offers newsletters on various risk management safety topics. You can get a better feel for the types of issues surrounding risk management by visiting the site.

OSHA Regulations

The Code of Federal Regulations Chapter 29 Part 1910 pertains to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards. Items addressed include the use and specifications of equipment such as ladders, scaffolding and man lifts; the issuance of personal protective equipment for eyes, face, head, feet and respiratory system; noise exposure; planning for escape in the case of a fire; hazardous materials; fire protection, materials handling and storage and toxic and hazardous substances.

I recommend: Refer to the Code of Federal Regulations Chapter 29 Part 1910 for more information regarding OSHA standards.

Health Hazard Evaluations

Health Hazard Evaluations assess if there are potential chemical exposures or health hazards such as exposure to asbestos or other materials in the workplace that may be harmful to one's health.

I recommend: Contact the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for information on having a Health Hazard Evaluation conducted at your facility.

Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluations

Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluations (FACE) investigates fatal occupational injuries. FACE consists of two elements: in-house and state-based. In-house FACE involves states voluntarily notifying the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of work-related deaths due to causes such as machinery, electrocutions, falls in confined spaces and work zone fatalities, while state-based FACE involves agreements between state health or labor departments and NIOSH to work on monitoring and preventing fatalities.

I recommend: Contact the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for more information regarding the FACE program.

Workplace safety and health

Workplace safety and health involves addressing issues such as hazards and exposures that may cause injury or illness to employees. Examples of hazards and exposures that organizations have to address and protect their employees from include asbestos, chemicals, noise, hazardous materials and biohazardous materials. Depending on the type of work an individual performs, physical ailments that employees are susceptible to include carpal tunnel syndrome, heat stress, Lyme disease and musculoskeletal disorders.

I recommend: Contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for information relating to workplace safety and health.

Material Safety Data Sheets

Material Safety Data Sheets provide information such as manufacturers of a product, emergency phone numbers, hazardous ingredients contained in the product, physical and information about potential hazards and how to clean up any accidents. Having Material Safety Data Sheets onsite and available to employees enables them to respond appropriately should an incident occur with a chemical.

I recommend: Obtain Material Safety Data Sheets for products used by your organization from 3E or MSDSXchange.

Workplace safety risk management consists of establishing programs and practices which are designed to ensure worker safety and health. The principal laws governing safety management in the workplace are administered by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). Assuring that the workplace is safe is a business owner’s priority because not only it is the right thing to do but also because implementing risk and safety management programs will help them avoid legal penalties and reduce insurance costs.

Workplace risk management encompasses all factors that impact the health, safety and well-being of employees. Employee safety risk management includes eliminating and controlling environmental hazards, preventing unsafe working conditions or processes, avoiding drug and alcohol abuse as well as violence in the workplace. If you are a new small to medium sized business owner, you will want to approach the subject as if you were taking a course on workplace safety risk management for beginners. Start by:

1. Finding sources for information on risk management in the workplace.

2. Investigating a consultant or safety risk management firm that can provide guidance.

3. Considering software programs that can help you save time and money.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Investigate sources of information on workplace risk management

There are some basic programs that every business should consider as part of a worker safety risk management program and include such things as a fall protection program, a hearing loss prevention program and an accident prevention program to name a few. There is no need to invent your own if you can utilize programs that have been developed by others.

I recommend: Washington State Dept. of Labor and Industries provides a list of business safety risk management programs which should be put in place and samples of each one. SafetyDOCuments offers ready to download and use safety manuals, training modules, guides and a safety library on CD.

Locate a consultant that has expertise in risk and safety management

Because of the complexity and scope of risk and safety management an experienced professional can be very helpful to a business owner. Some of the services a consultant can provide include ergonomics consulting, OSHA abatement strategies, drug and alcohol policies and environmental management for starters.

I recommend: Performance Based Safety is a network of workplace health and safety risk management consultants who can customize a safety risk management at work program for your company. The Safety Department provides a basic primer on what to look for in a consultant.

Investigate software programs that can help you with workplace risk management

Safety risk management software can help an organization identify trends and conduct root cause analysis, manage worker's compensation, comply with government regulations as well as manage lost time and reduce absences.

I recommend: Automated Workplace Safety provides software solutions for safety professionals wanting to demonstrate productivity gains. Medgate has over 25 years of experience working with workplace safety risks and has created a software package that can help your employees work safer and healthier.