July Safety Initiatives to Consider

A number of national and regional safety initiatives took place throughout June. Of course, employers need not wait for large-scale, focused safety campaigns to take measures to reinforce their safety programs and culture. Having a workforce that puts safety first is the best way to protect your employees and your company.

As we move deeper into the summer months, employers face various seasonal safety challenges. For many employers, managing the risk of heat illness is the foremost concern. As we reported last month, employers whose employees are potentially exposed to hot temperatures must protect their employees from hazards related to extreme heat exposure. The heat illness prevention campaign, which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration summarizes with the reminder “WATER. REST. SHADE.”, provides a number of resources on effectively protecting employees from heat illness.

As we also discussed last month, employers must continue to ensure all summer workers receive proper training on required job duties and understand the importance of safety. OSHA has published some resources for employers to use to ensure that all employees stay safe.

Secretary of Labor Update