Portable Sanitation Association International

123 2018 INDUSTRY RESOURCE DIRECTORY Safety and Health Safety and Health Safety Programs for Portable Sanitation Portable sanitation operators often ask: "Does the PSAI have any sample safety manuals or a sample program my company can use? We want something where we can just fill in the blanks and get this done." The PSAI does not have a template for building your own safety manual or program. Offering, essentially, a "one size fits all" safety program would dramatically increase liability risk for the company and the PSAI because OSHA says, "Vague, generic health and safety plans will not meet the requirements [of the law]." So the companies would be at risk if they took something like that, filled in the blanks and called it good without taking the steps necessary to demonstrate a thorough process. The risk would grow exponentially if someone got sick or hurt and OSHA—or your employee's attorney—found you were relying on a cookie-cutter safety program. The PSAI would also be at risk for publishing something like that and portraying it as a suitable safety program solution. There are some commercial companies and consultants who offer safety programs that are generic and comparatively easy to develop. You will have to judge for yourself whether they are worth the money or the liability risk. In our experience, the best safety programs you can buy from others are expensive because a responsible expert comes on site, learns about your business, and helps you tailor a plan that actually matches your company's needs and capabilities. The questionable vendors of safety products just take your money and give you stuff that is basically recycled from OSHA's publications—possibly with the language changed a little and the layout made to look "pretty" or "impressive." To offer a fill-in-the-blanks program that does more than that would be very risky for them. The Best Options for Building Your Safety Program OSHA publishes some decent resources to help you put a safety program together. These provide a lot of direction on how you can build a safety program that is specific to your company's needs and risks. • Office of Small Business Assistance. OSHA wants to provide quality service to small businesses. In October 2002, OSHA created the Office of Small Business Assistance to provide small business direction, to facilitate information sharing and to help in finding and achieving regulatory compliance. The office also works to educate small businesses on using up-to-date tools and materials, and facilitates opportunities to comment on OSHA's regulatory agenda. The Office of Small Business Assistance maintains OSHA's specialized small business web pages found at https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness/index.html. Check out their small business handbook at https://www. osha.gov/Publications/smallbusiness/small-business.html and their sample programs at https://www.osha.gov/ dcsp/compliance_assistance/sampleprograms.html. The Office of Small Business Assistance can be contacted by telephone at (202) 693-2220 or by writing to: Director, Office of Small Business Assistance, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room N-3700, Washington, DC 20210. • Cooperative Programs. Years of experience show that voluntary collaborative relationships among OSHA, the private sector, and other government entities lead to improved safety and health. As a result, OSHA continues to expand its cooperative programs which currently include the free and confidential Consultation Program, the Voluntary Protection Programs, the Strategic Partnership Program, and OSHA's newest addition, Alliances. Small businesses are encouraged to investigate the full array of cooperative programs offered by OSHA. Participation can be on an individual company basis or through an industry association. Detailed information on each program is also available on OSHA's website at http://www.osha.gov, by contacting any OSHA office, or by calling (800) 321-OSHA.

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