When’s the last time you reviewed your workplace safety manual — the one that explains what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) expects you and your employees to know and follow? 

What? You don’t have a manual? Then there’s no time like the present to create one.

Here’s a brief summary of the most common topics as well some useful writing tips. For more specific help or a professional review, contact the Employers Council at www.employerscouncil.org or Dean Harris, the Western Slope area manager for the organization, at 852-0190.

Make sure your manual is workplace and job site specific. Some of the topics you should cover include:

General health and safety policies tailored to locations and activities.

The rules for using personal protective equipment (PPE) and company vehicles, safe job procedures and workplace activities. Visit www.SafetyInfo.com for some useful ideas and templates.

How to perform OSHA-required inspections of workplaces and tasks to determine if hazards are present that would require the use of PPE.

Safe work practices and job procedures for each location.

Preventive maintenance requirements, schedules, roles and responsibilities.

Methods for communicating safety information and training employees in safe procedures and operations.

Required inspections, investigations and reports, including procedures for keeping records and statistics.

Emergency procedures covering potentially dangerous or life-threatening situations — chemical spills, fires, workplace shootings and other hazards.

Other topics relevant to your industry.

Keep in mind you’re writing a manual explaining what employees and managers should do — and not do. Write in an active voice. The “doer” must be absolutely clear. Passive voice deflects responsibility to some “unknown.” 

Consider these examples. Which one makes it clear what must be done and by whom?

The safety valve must be set to “active” to avoid an explosion when the gas jet is opened. The gas technician must set the safety valve to “active” before opening the gas jet.

The first example is written in passive voice. The “doer” is not stated, leaving no one responsible for ensuring this important safety step is completed properly. Even if the “doer” is obvious, your manual needs to identify, in directive and active terms, the “doer.” The second example is written in active voice and leaves no doubt — in terms of job title — who’s responsible.

Always write in active voice. Be directive. Sentences must be simple, clear and concise. Delete adjectives (descriptive words before nouns) unless they add value or clarity. Avoid long words or phrases when one simple word works. Write “use” rather than “utilize” or “make utilization of.” Consider the following example. The safety valve must be quickly, rapidly and thoroughly turned off immediately prior to rather than shortly after enabling and turning on the gas flow. That’s passive voice with lots of adjectives. Now consider the same sentence written in active voice with no unneeded adjectives. Turn off the safety valve before turning on the gas.

Short, focused sentences ensure someone with a high school education can read and understand them. In the preceding example you can read how much shorter the directive, active voice sentence is, leaving no doubt what’s to be done and by whom.

Keep paragraphs to no more than three or four sentences. Short paragraphs ensure only one topic is addressed at a time. One-sentence paragraphs work well when you want to emphasize a point.

Use bullets or numbered lists. Bullets call out information, ensuring critical processes or information stand out, are easy to locate and simple to follow. Use bullets when the order of performance doesn’t matter. Use numbered or lettered lists when the order does matter — for a series of steps or a startup or shutdown process, for example

Focus on the measurable. Use specific terms that are measurable rather than vague terms open to interpretation. Instead of writing “recommended safety equipment must be brought to each site” try “technicians and engineers must bring the complete set of safety equipment listed in column 2 of table 7 when going to category 1 sites.” Go through your manual and weigh the value of words that end in “-ly” and “-ous.” These are words open to interpretation. Health and safety procedures are not open to interpretation.

Be quantitative, not qualitative. Put yourself in the position of the people who must read, understand and use your manual. Will reading and referencing the contents make your employees safer and better prepared for risky situations? Are you making everyone’s roles and responsibilities clear? Have you revised at least 90 percent of passive voice sentences?

The OSHA Small Business Handbook available online at www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/small-business.pdf offers useful information. 

Safety is everyone’s business. A good workplace safety manual should constitute an excellent reference for both employers and employees.