OSHA Health and Safety Policy Template

Management leadership is the first section of the checklist. It asks you to implement and communicate a written, signed policy that supports the safety and health program; demonstrate visible commitment; define specific goals, expectations and plans to achieve them; allocate adequate resources such as money and time; assign responsibility and accountability for implementing and maintaining the program; and encourage, recognize and reward employees' contributions to workplace safety and health.

Worker participation is the second section. It asks you to encourage workers to participate and give them the means to do so comfortably; train workers to report injuries, illnesses, hazards, concerns, successfully avoided incidents and near misses; ensure reports are made without fear of retaliation and are received and resolved promptly and tracked through to completion; give workers access to the information they need to understand hazards and controls; assign roles in all aspects of the program; remove language, skill, education and scheduling barriers to participation; and empower workers to initiate or request a temporary suspension or termination of work activities they do not consider safe.

It asks you to track progress toward program goals with performance indicators, using both lagging and leading indicators; analyze and share performance data with employees; conduct an initial review and subsequent annual reviews to evaluate whether the program is fully implemented and functioning as planned; involve workers in all program review activities; examine key processes to ensure they work as intended; and modify the program as needed to address deficiencies.

Yes. The communication and coordination section asks you to decide, with contractors or staffing agencies, which party implements the various components of the safety and health program before their workers come to the site; provide them with enough information to assess the hazards their workers may be exposed to, understand the controls in place and avoid hazards that could affect workers at the job site; have them inform you about injuries, illnesses, hazards or concerns reported by their workers and the results of tracking or trend analyses; have them inform you about hazards arising from their work on site and the controls in place to address them; and offer them the opportunity to conduct site visits or inspections and review injury and illness records and other safety and health information.

The checklist uses a four-point implementation scale: Not implemented, Partially implemented, With minor deficiencies, and Fully implemented. You can use these results to judge where your program is strong and where it needs work, and to guide your next steps.