The Safety Champions Program (SCP) assists employers in developing and implementing a robust safety and health program (SHP). The main goal of safety and health programs is to prevent workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths, as well as the suffering and financial hardship these events can cause for workers, their families, and employers. The SCP is a voluntary cooperative program and operates separately from OSHA’s enforcement of employers’ obligations under the OSH Act. Accordingly, participation has no impact on any OSHA enforcement activity or determination.
SCP features three Steps (Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced) to help participating employers develop safety and health programs that incorporate the seven core elements of OSHA’s Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs. These seven (7) elements are:
- Management leadership
- Worker participation
- Hazard identification and assessment
- Hazard prevention and control
- Education and training
- Program evaluation and improvement
- Communication and coordination for host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies
This chart provides a progressive framework for SCP participants in developing their safety and health programs by identifying goals and actions related to each core element within each SCP Step. Each Step is intended to build off the one before. The participants will use the Safety Champions Tracker to track their progress and achievement of each action that is required at each Step. Participants can receive assistance from Safety Champions Special Government Employees (SGEs) by requesting this support from the SCP Coordinator. SGEs may help participants by reviewing safety and health program documentation, providing feedback to participants about their progress, and answering questions from participants on an as-needed basis.
OSHA will assign a Safety Champions SGE to conduct a review when a participant believes they have completed all actions in a Step. The SGE may recommend that the participant for Step completion to the SCP Coordinator, or the SGE may identify areas where further progress is needed. Note that participants must also continue meeting criteria from previously completed Steps as they progress through SCP.