Written safety program template with sample policy text

A written safety program is your company's rulebook for safety: who is responsible, how hazards get found and fixed, how people are trained and what happens after an incident. This page gives you a straight answer on what OSHA requires in writing, a table of every written program the standards call for, a full template with sample policy text, and short add-on templates for fleet, electrical and contractor programs.

This guide is not legal advice. State plans can add their own requirements.

What a written safety program is

A written safety program (some companies call it a safety manual or a safety and health program) covers the whole company, every site and every job. It sets the rules that stay the same everywhere. Other documents hang off it:

• Required written programs for specific hazards, such as hazard communication, lockout/tagout or respiratory protection. They are sections or attachments of the main program.
• Site-specific safety plans that apply the program to one project. See the site-specific safety plan template.
• Job hazard analyses and pre-task plans for single tasks. See job hazard analysis and pre-task planning.

Does OSHA require a written safety program?

There is no single federal OSHA rule that requires every employer to keep one written safety and health program. That is the short answer. The longer answer matters more:

1. Construction employers must run safety programs. "It shall be the responsibility of the employer to initiate and maintain such programs as may be necessary to comply with this part." (29 CFR 1926.20(b)(1)) The rule does not say the program must be written, but a written program is the practical way to show it exists.
2. Many standards require a specific written program when their hazard is present. See the table below.
3. Some standards require written certifications or records, such as the certification of the PPE hazard assessment (29 CFR 1910.132(d)(2)), fall protection training certification records (29 CFR 1926.503(b)(1)), forklift operator certification (29 CFR 1910.178(l)(6)) and bloodborne pathogens training records kept for 3 years (29 CFR 1910.1030(h)(2)(ii)).
4. State plans can add more, such as a general written injury and illness prevention program or a safety committee. Check with your state plan office.

OSHA also publishes voluntary guidance, the Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs. It is not a regulation, but its core elements (management leadership, worker participation, hazard identification and assessment, hazard prevention and control, education and training, program evaluation and improvement, and coordination with contractors and staffing agencies) make a good skeleton. The template below follows them.

Written programs and plans that OSHA standards require

Two programs are required without saying "written": the hearing conservation program, once noise exposures reach an 8-hour time-weighted average of 85 decibels (29 CFR 1910.95(c)(1)), which also comes with records such as exposure measurements (29 CFR 1910.95(m)(1)); and the construction safety programs in 29 CFR 1926.20(b)(1). Write them down anyway.

How to write your written safety program in 7 steps

1. List your operations and hazards. Walk every site, read your injury records and talk to your foremen.
2. Check which required programs apply. Go down the table above and mark each one.
3. Draft the core program with the template below.
4. Write or attach each required program. For chemicals, use how to write a hazard communication program.
5. Put names and dates in every blank. A program with no names assigns no one.
6. Train everyone on it and get a signed acknowledgment.
7. Review it every year and whenever work changes, and keep the revision log current.

Written safety program template

Copy sections 1 to 16 into a document. Replace each blank and each [bracket], and rewrite any sample text that does not match how your company works.

1. Cover and document control

• Company name: ________
• Address: ________
• Locations and types of work covered: ________
• Program administrator (name, title, phone): ________
• Effective date: ________ Next review date: ________

2. Safety and health policy

Sample text:

[Company name] will provide a safe and healthy workplace for every employee. We follow the OSHA standards that apply to our work and the rules in this program. Managers and supervisors are responsible for the safety of the people they direct. Every employee is expected to follow this program, report hazards and injuries right away, and stop any task they believe is unsafe. No one will be punished for reporting a hazard, an injury or a near miss.

Signed: ________ (owner or president) Date: ________

3. Scope

• This program applies to: [ ] all employees [ ] temporary and staffing agency workers [ ] subcontractors on our sites [ ] visitors
• Locations: ________

4. Roles and responsibilities

Construction companies also name competent persons for the duties the standards assign. A competent person is defined in 29 CFR 1926.32(f). See the competent person and safety for supervisors and foremen.

5. Employee participation

• How employees report hazards and ideas: ________
• Safety committee or safety meeting schedule: ________ See safety committees.
• Toolbox talks: day, time and who runs them: ________
• Injury and illness reporting: the employer must tell each employee how to report a work-related injury or illness (29 CFR 1904.35(a)(1)) and set up a reasonable procedure for prompt and accurate reporting (29 CFR 1904.35(b)(1)). A procedure that would deter or discourage a reasonable employee from reporting is not reasonable under that paragraph.
• No retaliation: no employee is fired or discriminated against for reporting a work-related injury or illness (29 CFR 1904.35(b)(1)(iv)).

6. Hazard identification and assessment

Talks to use: hazard recognition, jobsite safety inspections, PPE hazard assessment.

7. Hazard prevention and control

• Controls are chosen in this order: eliminate the hazard, substitute something safer, engineering controls, work practices and training, then PPE.
• PPE: we provide the PPE each task requires and train employees to use it (general industry 29 CFR 1910.132; construction 29 CFR 1926.28(a) and 29 CFR 1926.95(a)).
• Equipment that is not safe or not in compliance is tagged, locked out or removed from service (construction: 29 CFR 1926.20(b)(3)).
• Only employees qualified by training or experience operate equipment and machinery (construction: 29 CFR 1926.20(b)(4)).
• Maintenance and housekeeping schedule: ________
• Corrective action log: hazard, date found, who fixes it, due date, date closed.

8. Required written programs

Tick each program your hazards trigger (see the table above) and attach it:

• Hazard communication, with chemical list and SDS access
• Lockout/tagout energy control program and machine procedures
• Respiratory protection
• Hearing conservation
• Bloodborne pathogens exposure control plan
• Emergency action plan and fire prevention plan
• Permit-required confined spaces
• Silica exposure control plan
• Other: ________

Talks to use: hazard communication, lockout/tagout, respiratory protection, hearing conservation program, bloodborne pathogens, permit-required confined spaces, crystalline silica.

9. Training

• New hire orientation covers this program, site rules, emergency procedures, hazard reporting and the hazards of the job. See new worker orientation.
• Construction: each employee is instructed in recognizing and avoiding unsafe conditions and the regulations for their work environment (29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2)).
• Job-specific training required by the standards:

• Use the training requirements finder and the guide to OSHA training requirements by job to fill in this table.
• Attendance records: sign-in sheet generator.
• Toolbox talks support training but do not replace the training a standard requires, such as forklift operator training and evaluation with certification (29 CFR 1910.178(l)(6)).

Free English and Spanish talks are on every topic page. If you want ready-made material, ToolboxKits sells a $4.99 talk kit and a $9 training kit with an editable PowerPoint, trainer notes and a 10-question quiz, with no subscription. See pricing.

10. Emergency preparedness

• Emergency action plan with, at minimum, procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency, evacuation and exit route assignments, employees who stay to run critical operations, accounting for everyone, rescue and medical duties, and who to contact for more information (29 CFR 1910.38(c)).
• Employees designated and trained to help with a safe and orderly evacuation (29 CFR 1910.38(e)): ________
• First aid: when there is no infirmary, clinic or hospital in near proximity, a person or persons adequately trained to render first aid, and adequate first aid supplies readily available (29 CFR 1910.151(b)). Construction: 29 CFR 1926.50(c).
• Severe weather, fire drills and assembly areas: ________

Talks to use: emergency action plans, fire drills and evacuation, first aid, severe weather.

11. Incident reporting and investigation

• Employees report every injury, illness and near miss to: ________ by ________ (when).
• Report to OSHA within 8 hours after a work-related fatality (29 CFR 1904.39(a)(1)), and within 24 hours after an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye (29 CFR 1904.39(a)(2)). Person who reports: ________
• Investigation steps (company practice): make the area safe, get first aid or medical care, secure the scene, talk to witnesses, find the causes, fix them, share the lesson.
• Investigation form kept by: ________
• Workers' compensation carrier, claim reporting steps and return-to-work contact: ________

Talks to use: incident reporting, near miss reporting.

12. Recordkeeping

• The 300A annual summary is posted no later than February 1 and stays up until April 30 (29 CFR 1904.32(b)(6)).
• Partial exemptions: companies with 10 or fewer employees at all times during the last calendar year (29 CFR 1904.1(a)(1)) and establishments in certain listed industries (29 CFR 1904.2(a)(1)) do not need to keep these records unless asked, but every employer must still report under 1904.39.
• The OSHA notice is posted where notices to employees are customarily posted (29 CFR 1903.2(a)(1)).

More: OSHA injury recordkeeping.

13. Contractors, temporary workers and shared sites

• Contractor prequalification: safety record, required written programs, training records, insurance (contract term).
• Orientation for contractors and temporary workers before they start. See visitor and subcontractor orientation and temporary workers.
• Chemical information sharing on shared sites (29 CFR 1910.1200(e)(2)).
• Construction: prime contractor and subcontractor responsibilities under 29 CFR 1926.16. See multi-employer worksites.

14. Discipline and recognition

• Rules are enforced the same way for everyone, from verbal warning to removal from the job: ________
• Recognition rewards safe behavior and reporting, never low injury counts that could discourage reporting. See safety incentives done right.

15. Program evaluation and review

• Full review at least once a year, led by: ________
• Programs with their own review rules: bloodborne pathogens exposure control plan at least annually (29 CFR 1910.1030(c)(1)(iv)); lockout/tagout periodic inspection at least annually (29 CFR 1910.147(c)(6)(i)); silica exposure control plan at least annually (29 CFR 1910.1053(f)(2)(ii) and 29 CFR 1926.1153(g)(2)); respiratory protection program updated as workplace conditions change (29 CFR 1910.134(c)(1)).
• What we track: inspections done, hazards fixed on time, training completed, near misses reported, toolbox talks held, injuries.

16. Employee acknowledgment

By signing, I confirm I received and was trained on this written safety program.

Add-on templates for common programs

Fleet and driver safety program

OSHA has no standard that requires a written fleet safety program. Commercial drivers may also fall under U.S. Department of Transportation rules, which are outside this guide. A short program still prevents a lot of trouble:

• Who may drive company vehicles, and license checks: ________
• Vehicle inspections before each shift (construction vehicles: 29 CFR 1926.601(b)(14)): ________
• Seat belts always, and no handheld phone use while driving (company rules)
• Backing rules: spotter or reverse alarm (construction vehicles with an obstructed rear view: 29 CFR 1926.601(b)(4))
• Fatigue limits, breaks and route planning: ________
• Crash reporting steps and who to call: ________
• Driver training topics: defensive driving, distracted driving, driver fatigue, seat belt use, winter driving

More meeting ideas: driver safety meeting topics.

Electrical safety program

• Scope and who is a qualified person (allowed to work on or near exposed energized parts) versus an unqualified person: ________
• Training in the safety-related work practices for each job assignment (29 CFR 1910.332(b)(1)), with extra training for qualified persons (29 CFR 1910.332(b)(3)).
• Lockout and tagging procedures kept in writing (29 CFR 1910.333(b)(2)(i)).
• Electrical protective equipment provided and used where there are potential electrical hazards (29 CFR 1910.335(a)(1)(i)).
• Construction sites: GFCIs or an assured equipment grounding conductor program (29 CFR 1926.404(b)(1)(i)).
• Energized work policy and who approves it (company rule; many employers base this on NFPA 70E, a consensus standard, not an OSHA regulation): ________

Talks to use: electrical safety, qualified electrical workers, arc flash, electrical PPE and insulated tools.

Contractor and construction safety program

• Company commitments for every project: programs under 29 CFR 1926.20(b)(1), frequent and regular inspections by competent persons (29 CFR 1926.20(b)(2)), training under 29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2).
• Competent persons by duty (scaffolds, excavations, fall protection training, ladders, cranes, silica): ________
• A site-specific safety plan for each project: see the site-specific safety plan template.
• Subcontractor requirements before mobilizing: written programs, training records, chemical lists and SDSs, equipment inspections.
• Weekly toolbox talks matched to the phase of work: see construction toolbox talk topics.

Keep the program alive

A written program that sits on a shelf is just paper. Keep it working:

• Put the yearly review date on the calendar and update the revision log each time.
• Update the program when you add a new type of work, equipment, chemical or location, and after any serious incident.
• Run a weekly toolbox talk that ties back to the program. The weekly talk and the talk picker make that easy.

Common mistakes:

• Buying a generic manual and never changing a word.
• Programs for hazards you do not have, and none for the ones you do.
• Blank names, so no one owns anything.
• No training records, or records that do not match the rule.
• A required written program missing, often hazard communication or lockout/tagout.

Related guides

• Site-specific safety plan template
• How to write a hazard communication program
• OSHA training requirements by job
• 100 safety topics for daily toolbox talks