b'HARPUpd a t e,& 1 - - - - - - - - -y Holding Employees Accountable (HR-5037) By JeffSHARI\'Manager Baum,Administrative Athat targets the accounta- According to T Bartl, counselAlong withion and trainbilliminformatbility of an employee\'s actions infor the LaborPolicy Association,ing, employers in the SIIARP citationwell ay the event of ais currently"It is a-established fact that,programm utilizedisciplinary before the Houseof Representa- although employers have the ulti- p duresoutlinedinthe rocetives. TheWorkplaceSafetyandmate responsib ty for safety in theSHARPSafetyManu This ili al. AccountabilityAct(HR-5037),workpla thereonly so muchpolicy reprimands employees for ce,is whichis c ntly onhold,is athey can do to ensure compliance.failing toby the company\'s urre abide ave response toOSHA citationsthatThe ones whoh to follow thesafety policy. ignorerole of employee con- training and ru are the employ- AllSHARPmembersare theles duct in accidents.ees themselves."providedwithtrainingmaterials If passed, the bill wouldeldThis brings up many issues toandsafetypoliciesthatare shi. the employeryemployers from OSHA penalties ifconsider. Should the employee beincluded in the SHARPty ma Safeemploycountableemployers can show that- heldaccountableforhisorherManual.Foranadditionalfee, be held acees had failed to utilize the trainingaction inof ane SI/ARP staff will provide your the eventaccid nt? when it cannotand/orequipmenttheyreceivedSh theemployerremaincompanywitha comprehensive ould fromtheiremployer.T billaccountablefor accidentsoccur- safety manual that is customized be pro nhe ve that would prevent OSHA from issuingring on the job? If one may proveto your unique needs.Constructhe employee wascitations and p lties to employ- an accident to be the fault of thetioncompaniesarerequiredby enaproperlyednlesshe ers u the employer knew ofemployee becausedid not fol- OSHAtohaveamanualthat train in c ycy orthe alleged violation.1\'*company policy or train- enforces safety p andprolowolicies ompan poli Accordingtoa recent*1\'ing, iisense to holdcedures.information regarding makes For more safety procedures orarticletitled"Targeting**the employee responsi- the SIIARPcall 800/ RiskyE loyees"in~*bleforhisorher497-6722 andprogram, mpthe companySafety + Health Maga- actions.Ontheotherask for SHA.RP. ifzine,to the pro- hand, the employer may reaction was found to beposed billmixed, withbeheldaccountable is otherwise negligentunionsopposingandwhenitcannotbe bu s i ns -f r i e n d I yproventhatthe es groupsinfavor.employeewasp -ropichaeAccordingtoM lerlytrainedincom-Wright,directorofpanypolicy orsafety EHSfortheUnitednTTIproceduresorifthe SteelworkersofAmerica,~found to be company was "we do not see a ing ineo erwise negligent. nyth th thbillthatwould doanythingbutMembers ofSIIARP thepro-takeresponsibilityawayfromgramreceiveinformationand he employers.T vastmajorityoftrainingmaterials tohelpprove accidentsarecausedby factorsthat employers areprovidingthe otherthanlackoftrainingandemployee with adequate training. If PPE."this bill passes, those employers that utilizea qualitysafetyand health p m,eSIIARP rogra lik the program, maybeabletoprove their company is not being negligent in providing ample safety and health training to their employees. 7'