270463 Will provisions of OSHA's proposed injury and illness prevention program standard, a new voluntary consensus Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems standard and related new and proposed measures curtail employer practices that discourage workers from reporting job injuries and illnesses

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 : 12:42 PM - 12:54 PM

James Frederick, MS , Health, Safety and Environment Department, USW, Pittsburgh, PA
In 2012 OSHA is expected to issue a proposed injury and illness prevention program standard, and an updated voluntary consensus Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems standard is expected to be finalized by the ANSI/AIHA Z10 Committee. Also in 2012, the RAND Center for Health and Safety in the Workplace issued a Technical Report, the first to evaluate California's Injury and Illness Prevention Program that was promulgated by Cal-OSHA in 1991. Essential to an effective comprehensive workplace health and safety program is a mechanism to ensure accurate injury and illness reporting and recording. Accurate injury/illness data is essential to measuring health and safety in a workplace and the interventions implemented to improve health and safety conditions. This presentation will explore particular provisions in current and proposed injury/illness prevention and health and safety management systems standards; analyze their ability to curtail employer policies, programs and practices that discourage workers from reporting work-related injuries and illnesses; and recommend specific changes if deficiencies are identified.

Learning Areas:
Occupational health and safety

Learning Objectives:
Describer the provisions in a proposed OSHA injury/illness prevention standard; Evaluate whether a newly-released voluntary consensus standard on Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems will be effective in curtailing employer policies, programs and practices that discourage workers from reporting work-related injuries and illnesses

Keywords: Occupational Health, Occupational Injury and Death

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: My current work and experience with members of the United Steelworkers International Union have provided me with an opportunity to understand issues and concerns surrounding injury reporting. My affiliation with the AFL-CIO Staff Subcommittee on Occupational Safety and Health and its workgroup on health and safety programs, as well my affiliation with other committees dealing with health and safety management systems, have given me experience in evaluating standards related to workplace health and safety programs.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.