How to Compile a Safety Manual
Safety manuals are essential to any business, whether it is a small home-based company or a multinational corporation. Having a safety manual can protect you from employee lawsuits and will help you stay in compliance with OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) guidelines. A safety manual can also help all employees to be aware of potentially hazardous conditions in the workplace and follow procedures to keep safe.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Gather information on company procedures that pertain to safety. These will include what to do in case of injury, how to safely handle equipment, how to dispose of hazardous materials and other industry-specific situations.
-
2
Find out company policies that relate to employee safety. If they are in written form, compile them for the safety manual. Otherwise, write each policy, putting each one under a separate heading. There should be policies to deal with employee accidents, waste disposal, equipment malfunction and employee discipline in the event safety procedures are disregarded.
-
-
3
Collect all the necessary forms for reporting accidents and safety violations, as well as training forms. These will all go in the manual as well.
-
4
Write down your company's emergency response plan. This should have its own section in the safety manual.
-
5
Go to the OSHA website in the resource section and see if there are any other areas that need to be addressed in your safety manual. Some OSHA requirements may not apply to your business. Include any additional situations for which OSHA requires your company to have a procedure.
-
6
Include an employee acknowledgment of receipt of the safety manual at the end of the manual. This page will be turned into human resources after employees have had a sufficient amount of time to read the manual. This provides legal protection for the company.
-
7
Submit the safety manual to the company's lawyer for review. A safety manual is a document that can be relevant in court in the case of employee injury, so this step is critical.
-
8
Put the manual in binders so that updated policies, procedures and forms will be easy to add. Separate each section of the safety plan with dividers. For maximum availability, scan the document and make it available as a printable PDF on the human resources section of the company website.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
If your company is unsure about potential hazards in the workplace and how to deal with them, OSHA will provide a free on-site consultation to help with this issue. See the Resource section for the link.
