What does it take to achieve and maintain a safe workplace? Look at any business that has a safe, healthful workplace and here’s what you’ll find:

• Business owners and managers are as committed to workplace safety as they are to any other critical part of the business.
  
• Supervisors and employees are held accountable for following safe work practices.
  
• Employees are involved in the day-to-day effort to maintain a safe workplace.
  
• Supervisors and employees know how to identify and control hazards.
  
• Accidents and near misses are investigated thoroughly and their causes prevented from happening again.
  
• Employees learn safe work practices through classroom training and instruction.
  
• Business owners and managers evaluate their business safety goals at least yearly and use the evaluation to set new goals.

You can manage workplace safety and health just as you manage any other part of your business if you start with a strong foundation. Safety and health professionals have long recognized that the most effective way to establish that foundation is to develop seven critical elements:

• Management commitment
• Accountability
• Employee involvement
• Hazard identification and control
• Accident and incident investigation
• Training and instruction
• Evaluation

Keep in mind, however, there isn’t just “one way” to manage workplace safety and health. The seven activities described in this guide are time-proven and effective — they’ve worked for many other businesses and if you apply them they’ll work for yours. But don’t think that you need to be bound by only these seven activities — they’re just words after all. Feel free to change or tailor them so that they meet the needs of your workplace.