Construction Safety Manual

With increased enforcement from OSHA and insurance rates creeping up, NOW is the time to create or update your safety manual. Believe it or not, this may sound like a HUGE project, but it doesn’t need to be. Here is how to get it done by lunchtime:

  1. If you do not have a safety manual and the ones here on your right are not what you are looking for, shoot us an email here and we can get you a template for your specific operation. It may not be the 300 page tome that you can buy from JJ Keller, but it will be far better than having nothing. Here is how you make it better than 95% of the manuals out there:
  2. You need your primary SIC code. If you have it great, go to the next step. If not, go to OSHA SIC and get it for free.
  3. Next go to OSHA and enter the number of employees in your establishment, leave “FEDERAL” in the box, and then type in the SIC code from step 2. This will tell you the most common and how many citations were issued for each for your class and size of business. The actual section cited is in the hyperlink number on the left. 1926501 means OSHA 1926.501. It would be nice if that linked worked, but just like the rest of the federal government, it does not. This leads us to the next step.
  4. Now go to OSHA regs with your number above. If the number begins with 1926 that means it is a Construction standard. If it says 1910 that means it is General Industry. For 1926.501 go to OSHA Construction and look for 1926 and then scroll down to 501. Click on this link and then print the standard. Do this for the top most commonly cited standards you found in step 3 and add them to your Safety Manual. Add as many as you want, but here is the point: you want to make sure that whatever is most commonly cited by OSHA is addressed in your safety manual somewhere. If you ever have an inspection, this is what they will look for. You would rather be prepared.
  5. Lastly, make it a goal of teaching a safety class on each of these most commonly cited issues this year. When in doubt, teach fall protection 1926.501 first! Will it prevent one of your employees from being really stupid and shooting himself with a nail gun? Probably not, but as I said, you will be farther ahead than about 95% of the companies out there.
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