Meet the new OSHA.(Occupational Safety and Health Administration)

Inspectors will be looking for evidence that you're following the spirit of OSHA's direction.

In May 1995 President Clinton announced the birth of a "new" Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This updated OSHA, the Administration insisted, would be a more human organization, eager to forge cooperative partnerships with employers, managers, and workers. Not surprisingly, some healthy skepticism greeted the announcement. But in the ensuing months OSHA has matched the President's promise with performance. OSHA inspectors now focus on reducing injury and illness rates rather that increasing the number of inspections, citations, and penalties. Though no less vigilant, the agency is less confrontational, and it offers incentives (including penalty reductions) for good-faith compliance efforts.

OSHA's Wide Net

"For its first 24 years or so, the agency primarily wrote standards and enforced them in the workplace," recalls OSHA's Acting Assistant Secretary for Labor, Gregory Watchman. "Beginning with the new initiative, we've significantly broadened our intervention tools." Among these is a free consultation program, available to small and medium-sized companies. Under this program, an inspector will visit your department and identify possible violations without imposing any immediate citations or fines. Instead, the agent will issue an abatement schedule that allows you a reasonable period of time to eliminate any hazards.

Compliance assistance is another primary ingredient in the new OSHA mix. The agency has put an increased emphasis on training and communication. As Watchman points out, "We publish compliance guides and hold conferences around the country on such issues as ergonomics and silica. And of course, we're on the Internet." (OSHA's Web address is http//www.osha.gov/) Users can access OSHA regulations and policy directives. "We see the Web site becoming a mainstream tool for American businesses," Watchman says.

OSHA's Internet service recently introduced managers to the agency's "Expert Advisors." These safety and health "gurus" are in fact computer programs designed to operate in simple, interactive Q & A formats. A menu allows users to target specific hazards. For example, if you suspected your department might have an asbestos problem, you would access the "Asbestos Advisor."

A Shift in Emphasis