How to Put a Safety Manual Together

The foundation of any quality workplace safety and health program is the documentation of its policies and procedures. A comprehensive safety manual, written specifically to address your organization's operations, serves as the guide for all of your employees. Putting a safety manual together takes a lot of planning for effective implementation. With the support of top-level management in your organization, you ensure a successful safety manual that addresses the needs of all employees.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Pad
• Computer
• Word processing software
• Digital voice recorder

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Instructions

• 1

  Interview members of the company's senior management team---take copious notes. Supplement your written efforts with a digital voice recorder, making sure to let your interviewees know that you're recording the discussions to help you recall any important information from the meeting. Your goal is to establish and document your company's safety policy (the general overview of the company's safety and health initiatives). This is your company's "statement of intent" in regard to employee safety and health.

• 2

  Interview the employees within each functional organization to figure out what procedures you'll need to create that best fit the operations. Supplement your copious note-taking with the digital voice recorder, remembering to disclose to the interviewee that you're recording the discussion. Your goal during this interview is two-fold: First, you'll be raising awareness of the company's safety and health program during these simple discussions with each employee. Second, you can perform a risk assessment during the interviews to find out what types of hazards are facing each employee and to create procedures to help mitigate them.

• 3

  Create your documented safety procedures and compile your safety manual. Using your computer and word processing software, create a structure that's easy for employees to follow. Be sure that the the company's safety policy is in a large font and precedes the rest of the procedures. Have your senior management team sign off on the policy statement (this sign-off can double as the official approval for the company's safety manual).

• 4

  Have the company's legal department review every procedure to assess for legal consequences that may arise from the contents prior to the safety manual's rollout. Add legal disclaimers and make appropriate revisions in accordance with the legal department's recommendations.