OSHA has Tough Workplace Cleanliness Laws to Keep People Safe

January 19, 2016

Workplace dangers tend to run the gamut from potentially lethal hazards like exposure to toxic chemicals, to accidents or repetitive stress injuries. In fact, there are times when dangers in the work environment, such as fire-code violations in a building or secondhand smoke in a bar, can pose a greater risk than the actual job.

In 2002, construction caused 1,121 deaths. The mining industry had the highest worker-fatality rate with 23,5 miners killed per 100,000 workers in the same year. But what about cleanliness in the workplace?

Why We Need To Pay Attention To Cleanliness At Work

Effective housekeeping and cleaning methods can help eliminate a range of workplace hazards and help get a job done safely. Bad housekeeping can contribute to accidents by hiding certain hazards that cause injuries.

Housekeeping isn’t just about cleanliness, though. It also includes keeping work areas orderly and maintaining floors and halls to keep them free of trip and slip hazards, as well as removing waste materials and fire hazards from work areas. Housekeeping also requires paying attention to such details as the layout of the entire workplace, the adequacy of storage facilities, maintenance and aisle marketing. It’s also very much a part of fire and accident prevention.

Effective housekeeping should be an ongoing operation. It should not be a hit and miss clean-up that’s done every once in a while. The occasional “panic” tidy up is costly and pretty much ineffective when it comes to reducing accidents.

The Importance of OSHA Standards

These standards and guidelines play a major role in minimizing or eliminating hazards and are critical to ensuring a healthy and safe work environment.

Talk to Image One Facility Solutions about regular cleaning of your facilities. Contact us today for a quote.