Acting Assistant Secretary Jordan Barab, in a speech during a conference, encouraged safety and health professionals to be more involved and aggressive in securing safety in the workplace.  Barab of the Department of Labor for OSHA outlined the actions on how this can be done.  For those of you who aren’t aware of this, here’s a rundown of the important points he tackled.

• There is a need for strong standards that not only protect the workers but also that make sense.  The first one is accomplished by the authorities while the second one is contributed by the safety professionals.  Barab stressed that they (OSHA) need to hear from the professionals especially when OSHA is “missing the mark.”
• Safety professionals need to be more open to their managers and CEOs about stressing the importance of safety in the workplace.  They also need to weigh in with bills that are being introduced in Congress and participate in OSHA’s proposed rulemaking.  In short, they need to speak up and be involved.
• OSHA is moving forward with Barab even calling the agency “the new OSHA.”  He said that the government agency is moving forward with its regulatory process.  The rulemaking on combustible dust, introduction of training grants, progress on diacetyl, the globally harmonized system, the cranes and derricks rule, as well as the new informational documents on pandemic flu – are some good news that happened in the past few months.  Aside from these, OSHA is reportedly developing a program for extensive examinations and is working on several actions to address critical concerns such as construction fatalities and injuries, sending out of compliance officers, improving established programs, and addressing recordkeeping and underreporting problems.
• There is a need to conduct a thorough review of the Voluntary Protection Program or VPP of OSHA.  According to Barab, VPP’s filling of goals or creating of alliances to replace enforcement is over.  He made it clear though that OSHA is neither limiting the program nor withholding recognition where it is due.
• It can be done.  Barab recognized ergonomics injuries as a huge problem but resolved that it can be fixed.  With this note, he encouraged all safety professionals to join them.

Safety professionals in the field or in the workplaces are very well aware and accustomed to how safety rules and regulations are being applied.  They are in the best position to observe the practical uses of OSHA standards.  They have the expertise to know what is right and what is wrong in work practices.  Therefore, they are the ones who can best help the authorities, specifically OSHA, in applying and improving workplace safety.

In conclusion, the assistant secretary stirred up the safety professionals to speak up and get involved more, assuring them that they “will have a seat at the table.”