OSHA Announces Site-Specific Targeting Safety Program

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is reviving its site-specific targeting program. Also known as the SST program, it's designed to target businesses in the United States with an abnormally high rate of injury and illness. The SST program will use data collected from injury and illness reports submitted to OSHA in 2016. This includes businesses in all industries with the exception of construction, which are omitted from the program.

About the SST Program

The SST program has been around for over a decade, allowing OSHA to target high-risk businesses based on injury and illness reports. In 2014, however, the program was shut down. Recently, in 2016, OSHA published the Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses rule, which required businesses with at least 250 employees, as well as businesses with 20 to 249 employees in high-risk industries, to submit injury and illness reports using OSHA's Form 300, Form 300A or Form 301.

It appears that the SST program is coming back, however. In November 2018, OSHA confirmed that it will use the SST program to identify businesses in the United States with high rates of worker injuries and illnesses. If a business experiences a high rate of worker injury, it must report those injuries to OSHA. OSHA's SST program will then identify this business as being high risk.

OSHA says that the SST program is designed to help employers create a safe working environment for their employees. "This program helps OSHA achieve its goal of ensuring that employers provide safe and healthful workplaces by directing enforcement resources to those workplaces with the highest rates of injuries and illnesses," wrote OSHA in the directive.

What Happens If Your Business Is Triggered By the SST Program

As a business owner, you might be wondering what happens if your business is selected by OSHA's SST program as being high risk. Well, in this case, OSHA will perform a comprehensive inspection of your business to ensure that's complying with all requires rules and regulations.

It's important for business owners to familiarize themselves with OSHA's rules and regulations. Each year, OSHA changes its requirements for businesses. And if you're unfamiliar with the latest requirements, you could be leaving your business subject to fines or other penalties.

OSHA's revival of its SST program is just one of the many changes its made this year. Unless your business operates in the construction industry, it could target your business if your business reports a high rate of worker injuries and illnesses.

You can learn more about OSHA's SST program here.