How Can You Develop an Industrial Hygiene Program

Industrial hygiene has always been important, but you may be thinking about it more than normal given current events.

In a time when workers’ health is at risk more than usual, it’s especially important to be mindful about developing an industrial hygiene program. By doing so, you can protect yourself and your employees.

So what is the best way to develop an industrial hygiene program? Read on to learn more.

What Is an Industrial Hygiene Program?

The purpose of an industrial hygiene program is to protect workers from health hazards in the workplace. In addition to this fact, industrial hygiene programs are important in order to keep your company within OSHA’s safety standards.

Without an industrial hygiene program, your employees may be put at risk for serious physical harm. Beyond this, the lack of a good industrial hygiene plan can create serious public relations problems. It can also open you up to lawsuits in cases of workplace injury/illness.

Where to Start

As an employer, it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to industrial hygiene programs. But as is often the case, starting is the hardest part. The rest should come quite naturally!

Your first step in the process should be a consideration of industry standards and requirements. This is a great place to start when thinking about hazards that may need to be addressed in your industrial hygiene policy.

Your next step in creating an industrial hygiene program should be considering any and all possible health risks your employees face in their day-to-day work lives. These can range from things like heavy radiation to unusual work schedules.

Try to think from the perspective of one of your employees: what could potentially make someone sick?

Ask for Help

When it comes to industrial hygiene, you can never be too careful. If you’re not familiar with the process of creating an industrial hygiene program, speaking with someone who’s familiar with the process is a great place to start. Many companies end up hiring specialists to help them develop their policies.

If you’re not looking to hire someone new, you can also attend webinars to learn more about industrial hygiene policies.

Communicate With Your Employees

When first implementing an industrial hygiene program, communication with your employees is key. You can have the most detailed industrial hygiene program in the country, but if your employees don’t know about it, it won’t do any good.

It’s important to go over the details of your industrial hygiene program with supervisors and employers to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

Moving Forward With Your Industrial Hygiene Program

Once your industrial hygiene program has been explained in detail to employees, it is important that you enforce the policies you’ve put into place. Some employees might be resistant to follow protocol even though it’s in their best interest.

With proper planning, training, and thorough risk analysis, an industrial hygiene program can do your workplace a lot of good. To learn more about living a happy, healthy life, check out our other blog posts!