Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA is sponsoring a “Safe + Sound Week,” another example of a more cooperative approach to worker safety and health issues.

We had blogged previously on OSHA’s launch of the “Safe and Sound Campaign” webpage, calling on employers to review their safety and health programs to protect workers, and reduce workplace injuries and deaths, and its “Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs” webpage.

Now OSHA, along with the National Safety Council, American Industrial Hygiene Association, American Society of Safety Engineers, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is sponsoring the first “inaugural” Safe + Sound Week.  It has designated June 12-18, 2017, for the event.

In announcing the event, the U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta said that “our nation has made great strides in raising awareness about the importance of workplace safety, yet more than four million workers suffer serious job-related injuries or illnesses annually. We can do better.”

According to the announcement, participating in this event will “help organizations get their safety and health program started” or energize an existing one.

OSHA notes that “effective programs have three core elements”:

• Management leadership that commits to establishing, maintaining and continually improving the program.
• Workers who help identify solutions for improvements.
• A systematic “find and fix” approach that calls upon employers and workers alike to examine their workplaces – proactively and routinely – to identify and address hazards before an injury or illness occurs.

More information on how to participate is provided on OSHA’s webpage.

This event is another example of a more cooperative approach to worker safety and health issues. As we noted previously, this is not the tone that we have seen from OSHA in the last several years.