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OSHA’s Injury & Illness Prevention Program

08/10/2011

By Alison Wilder

Over the past year, OSHA has been gathering data from trade associations and unions while promoting their initiative I2P2.  The initiative would require workplace managers to implement a Injury and Illness Prevention Program.  According to OSHA, the program “simple requires employers to develop a program to help them find and fix hazards in their workplaces.”

There are six key elements OSHA sees as necessary components of a successful prevention program, they are:

1. Management Leadership
2. Worker Participation
3. Hazard Identification
4. Hazard Prevention
5. Control, Education & Training
6. Program Evaluation & Improvement

Developing I2P2 into a standard is not an easy task; however, OSHA head, David Michaels called it the Agency’s highest priority of 2011.  Michaels and the Agency have been promoting the initiative heavily.  Michaels has made close to a dozen speeches since announcing the rule in April, the Agency has held five stakeholder meetings to get input on how to draft it and recently unveiled a new I2P2 webpage to increase interest in the coming initiative.

This is and will be a very important issue for business owners.  Keep checking back for the latest I2P2 information.