Section 2 - About Developing this Safety Handbook
2.0 About Developing this Safety Handbook
The following is a brief synopsis of a schedule for development, implementation and publication of a set of work rules and/or safety guidelines:
- The Safety Committee and/or Safety Coordinator and/ or Department Head develops a sample set of safety rules that are distributed to department heads and union representatives for review and comment. In Essex, the Safety Committee consists of two representatives each from each of two unions, two non-union employees, and major managers. The Committee is appointed by the Personnel Board and union membership.
- First draft revised incorporating input from department heads and union representatives. Comment period should be limited to 15-30 days. The schedule should be made known in advance in writing.
- The Safety Committee, Safety Coordinator and Department Head(s) discuss comments and changes. Agreed upon changes are made, a final draft is prepared and distributed to department heads and union representatives for additional comments. Again, a specific time, 15-30 days, should be established for comments.
- A final draft of the handbook is prepared incorporating all agreed to changes. At this time the new Handbook should be sent to legal counsel for review of its form and to determine whether there are any legal ramifications that should be considered. This process should take no longer than 30 days.
- The approved Handbook is printed and prepared for distribution to all employees.
- The handbook is distributed to employees.
- The Safety Committee will continue to revise and update the Handbook as necessary.
Safety rules/guidelines should be kept to a minimum. While the following document is somewhat lengthy in totality, it is intended to provide you with the maximum selection of items that might be included in a handbook. Materials should be shortened wherever possible to make the job of managers and supervisors easier by having fewer regulations to enforce. However, care must be taken not to "gut" the handbook so that it becomes an ineffective tool.