The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched a survey of private sector employers as a tool toward better designing future rules, compliance assistance and outreach efforts.
As many as 19,000 employers nationwide will receive the Baseline Survey of Safety and Health Practices, which asks questions about workplace safety and health management practices.
The survey will be sent to private sector employers of all sizes and across all industries under OSHA's jurisdiction. Questions include whether respondents already have a safety management system, whether they perform annual inspections, who manages safety at their establishments and what kinds of hazards they encounter at their facilities. Participation in the survey is voluntary.
The survey is accompanied by a cover letter from Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. Contact information for OSHA and its contractor, Eastern Research Group, is included for respondents who have questions about the survey. They will receive a paper copy of the survey that can be filled out and returned to ERG and the option to complete it online. Only those who receive a paper copy of the survey will be able to complete the online version.
The agency expects the data collection phase to be completed by August. ERG will provide the results -- which will be anonymous and cannot be used for enforcement -- to OSHA.
