Workplace safety needs to be a top priority every day of the year for both employers and employees. In an effort to try to improve workplace safety culture and raise awareness of the risks that employees face, the first week of May each year has been named North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) week.
NAOSH week is dedicated to improving communication among workers and employers, improving attitudes about workplace safety, and educating employers and employees about the importance of occupational safety and health. When employers fail to live up to safety obligations and employees get hurt as a result, employers can face OSHA fines and employees can make workers’ comp claims with the help of Atlanta work injury attorneys.
Prevention of injuries is in everyone’s best interests so employees can stay healthy and employers can avoid costly fines and significant legal liability. NAOSH week is one small part of the many steps taken to improve working conditions and reduce injury and fatality risks.
North American Occupational Safety and Health Week Aims to Improve Workplace Safety
According to Health and Human Services, the goal of workplace safety week is to “focus, reinforce, and strengthen commitment to occupational safety and health.
Research suggests that workplace safety is already an issue of major importance to employees. One recent survey asked workers about their most important labor law issues. There were many different labor law issues included on the survey, including minimum wage, paid sick leave, maternity leave, family leave, paid overtime, and union organizing rights. Workers ranked their top issues in order of importance and 85 percent of workers said that out of all of the different regulations, worker safety standards were the most important of all labor laws.
Worker safety should not just matter to employees. Employers routinely rank workplace safety as a top priority because smart companies recognize that a safe workplace leads to more productive workers and reduces costly work injuries.
NAOSH week is intended to help employers and employees to become more aware of some of the issues making workplaces dangerous and to encourage a more safety-minded culture. Since workers and companies say workplace safety is so important, NAOSH week serves as a reminder to actually put practices into action that will make a safe workplace a reality.
There are many common problems that HHS points out exist in far too many workplaces even though they are easy to correct. This includes things like inadequate lighting, environmental hygiene issues in the workplace, missing protective gear, poorly maintained equipment, and lack of effective safety training. These issues are easy and inexpensive to fix in most cases, and NAOSH week is an important reminder to employers to take affirmative steps to improve conditions.
Tragedies can, of course, happen in even the safest of workplaces. Workers can make a workers’ compensation claim regardless of the negligence of employers. An Atlanta work injury lawyer can help.
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