OSHA PROVIDES NEW ADVISOR SOFTWARE FOR BUSINESSES

Businesses and workers have two new tools available to help identify job

hazards and realize the financial impact of occupational injuries and

illnesses.

The Hazard Awareness Advisor and Safety Pays are the latest additions to

the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) line of

interactive software advisors downloadable from the agency’s Web site at

http://www.osha.gov/oshasoft.

The Hazard Awareness Advisor is designed to help employers and

employees, especially those from small businesses without a professional

safety and health consultant, locate potential hazards in their specific

work environments. After questioning users extensively about their

activities, practices, policies, materials, and equipment, the program

narrows the list of hazards that may be present. The software then

prepares a customized report that briefly describes the likely hazards

for that particular business.

The program is not a substitute for safety and health professionals. It

is merely an introduction to hazard recognition. The need for this

advisor was brought to OSHA’s attention by the National Federation of

Independent Business. Many trade associations and labor organizations

suggested improvements to early versions of the software. OSHA now hopes

to get more suggestions from the public for later versions.

Safety Pays software is designed to illustrate to employers the impact

occupational injuries and illnesses have on the company’s bottom line.

Using data from the insurance industry, the program analyzes a lost

workday scenario selected by the user and reports the average direct and

indirect costs associated with that particular case. The software, using

the company profit margin, estimates the amount of sales necessary to

cover the costs of the incident.

An interactive DOS version of Safety Pays has been in use by OSHA

regional and state-plan offices. The Windows version is almost identical

to it, however there are some significant improvements. By using Windows

technology, the creators made the information easier to read and print.

They also added explanations of the costs the program used to formulate

its report.

Safety Pays was downloaded more than 220 times in the first day and a

half after its release. In its first 24 hours on the Web site, Hazard

Awareness Advisor was downloaded 100 times.

Other software advisors available on OSHA’s Web site are:

-Lead in Construction

-Fire Safety

-Confined Spaces

-Asbestos

-GOCAD