For companies that are intimidated by the rules and regulations that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets forth to protect American workers, there's help on the way. Now, you don't have to send a written request to the agency to get information and wait weeks to receive it in the mail. Its website www.osha.gov provides a wealth of information about regulations, worker health and safety, and compliance.

What's more, the agency recently announced the availability of two new resources on its site:

• MyOSHA, a tool to create personalized links to OSHA online resources.

• Quick Start, a step-by-step guide to identify major OSHA requirements and guidance materials.

"We want to provide the most useful and most accessible information possible to help employers, employees and businesses stay safe, healthy, and successful," says OSHA Administrator John Henshaw. "It's important that America's workers and employers know what OSHA can do and how we can help those who need it. These new resources can be especially useful for small and new businesses as an introduction to the compliance assistance resources on OSHA's website."

Visitors to MyOSHA can sign up to create personalized links to OSHA online resources. Users can customize the content of their pages by selecting links from categories that include "Industry," "Safety and Health Topics," "What's New," "Audiences," "Publications," "Laws and Regulations," "Strategic Management Plan Areas of Emphasis" and "Working with OSHA."

MyOSHA features a tutorial that introduces new visitors to the tool. The tutorial walks users through the set up process and explains the tool's many functions. MyOSHA also includes randomly rotating eTips that educate users about OSHA and the agency's website. The eTips will appear at the top of the user's personalized page and will change each time the user accesses their MyOSHA page.

Quick Start is a new tool on OSHA's Compliance Assistance web page. It provides step-by-step guidance on how to identify OSHA requirements and guidance materials that may apply to specific workplaces. It includes a module for workplaces that are subject to OSHA's general industry standards, including manufacturing, wholesale, and retail establishments. The general industry module includes information on OSHA's recordkeeping and reporting requirements and provides links to compliance assistance resources and key standards and information for developing a comprehensive safety and health program.

Quick Start also includes a library that lists a collection of forms, fact sheets, publications, OSHA web pages and electronic tools, and sample programs.

Sources:

OSHA Offers Two New Compliance Assistance Web Tools
OSHA National News Release, January 21, 2004
www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=10641

OSHA Compliance Made Easier
John P. Kelly
Today's Facility Manager, November 2003
www.facilitycity.com/tfm/tfm_03_11_news2.asp