Katie McLaughlin is HSE RAVS Manager at ISN and has over a decade of experience in the industry. ISN’s ISNetworld platform allows customers to share industry best practices, benchmark performance, and provide data insights. In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Katie spoke with Adrienne Selko, senior editor at EHS Today and Material Handling & Logistics, about the new walkaround rule and how companies can improve their safety cultures.
Below is an excerpt from the podcast:
EHST: What does the new rule mean?
KM: I think the intent of the worker-walkaround rule is really to make sure that employees also have a voice in the inspection process. So, when OSHA does have a compliance officer that visits the worksite, giving both the employer the opportunity to have a representative participate, but also the employees to have a representative to participate to make sure that their voice is heard during that process is really the goal of the updated rule.
EHST: Following up on that, how much influence do employers and/or their union have in choosing somebody for the walkaround?
KM: I think based on what we've understood from the rule, it really is the opportunity. The employer has always been able to, in the original rule, designate a representative. And in this case, there is not a single process or a specific process for an employee to designate a representative. But there are several different ways that they can let the OSHA compliance officer know that they do want to have a representative to participate. So, they do get to designate that individual, whether that's in advance or at the time of the walkaround. But there's not a requirement on who that person is, or a need to do that in advance, necessarily.
EHST: Given this is a change for employers, what are you advising employers to do differently than they did before?
KM: The intent has always been for everyone to be on the same team. For the employer to have the best interest of the employees as part of their focus, and to make sure that the compliance officer has the information that they need to be able to ensure that the workplace is functioning as safely as possible. So, I don't know that there's a lot that needs to be different, provided that there's a strong safety culture in the workplace. If an employer is focused on their safety culture and is focused on building a strong safety culture with all of their employees, then I don't know that there is a lot that's different.