Hawaii Administrative Rules
Title 12 - DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Subtitle 8 - HAWAII OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH DIVISION
Part 2 - GENERAL INDUSTRY STANDARDS
Chapter 60 - GENERAL SAFETY AND HEALTH REQUIREMENTS
Section 12-60-2 - Safety and health programs
Universal Citation: HI Admin Rules 12-60-2
Current through August, 2024
(a) Scope and application. This standard shall apply to all employers with employees doing business in the State.
(1) Every employer
shall comply with the state laws, standards, and rules regarding a safe place
of employment and safe practices, and shall do everything reasonable and
necessary to protect the life, safety, and health of the employees.
(2) Employers involved with construction or
related activities shall provide safe and healthful work places and practices
that protect the employees and the affected general public as well.
(3) Every employer shall provide safe work
places and practices by elimination or reduction of existing or potential
hazards. Elimination of existing or potential hazards by design, process
substitution, or other appropriate methods is preferred because it eliminates
the need for further employee protection. When elimination is not feasible,
reduction of existing or potential hazards to acceptable levels, using methods
such as engineering or administrative controls, isolation, or guarding, shall
be promptly used. When these methods are inadequate to reach acceptable levels,
personal protective equipment shall be provided and used.
Exception: Employers with less than 25 employees need not comply with (b)(1) below.
(b) Employer duties and responsibilities. An employer subject to this standard shall meet the following requirements:
(1) Written safety and health program.
(A) The employer shall institute and maintain
an effective safety and health program to identify, evaluate and control
workplace hazards. Employer safety and health programs which were developed
prior to the promulgation of this standard may be used to satisfy this
requirement so long as they meet the criteria for an acceptable program set
forth in (B) below.
(B) The program
should
(i) Set forth policies, procedures,
and practices that recognize and protect employees from occupational safety and
health hazards.
(ii) Establish and
communicate a clear goal for the safety and health program and the mechanisms
which will be utilized in meeting this goal.
(iii) Provide for visible top management
leadership in implementing the program and ensure that all workers at the site,
including contract workers, are provided equally high quality safety and health
protection, so that all will understand that management's commitment is
serious.
(iv) Provide for and
encourage employee involvement in the structure and operation of the program
and in decisions that affect their safety and health, so that they will commit
their insight and energy to achieving the safety and health program's goal and
objectives. Involvement shall be accomplished through employee collective
bargaining units, where appropriate.
(v) Assign and communicate responsibilities
for all aspects of the safety and loss prevention program to managers,
supervisors, and employees so that they all know and understand what is
expected of them in the implementation of the program.
(vi) Provide a system to hold managers,
supervisors, and employees accountable for their responsibilities under the
safety and health program.
(vii)
Provide a reliable system for employees to notify management personnel or
safety and health committee members of conditions that appear hazardous or of
non-compliance with the terms of the safety and health program without fear of
reprisal and provide a mechanism to ensure timely and appropriate responses to
correct these conditions.
(viii)
Provide a mechanism to investigate accidents and "near miss" incidents, so that
the root cause and means for preventing a recurrence are identified. For the
purposes of this rule, the term "accident" means any unexpected happening that
interrupts the work sequence or process and that may result in injury, illness,
or property damage.
(ix) Provide a
means to review injury and illness trends over time, so that patterns with
common causes can be identified and eliminated.
(x) Establish a mechanism for the employer to
conduct ongoing, periodic in-house safety and health inspections so that new or
previously missed hazards or failures in controls are identified. Inspections
shall be conducted with a frequency necessary to be effective.
(xi) Address the impact of emergency
situations and develop written plans and procedures to insure employee safety
during emergencies. For the purpose of this standard, the term "emergency
situation" means an unforeseen single event or combination of events that calls
for immediate action to prevent, control or contain injury or illness to person
or damage to property.
(xii)
Establish procedures for transmitting and enforcing safe work practices in the
workplace through training, positive reinforcement, as a reward system, public
recognition, etc., correction of unsafe performance, and, if necessary,
reinforcement of work practices through a clearly defined and communicated
disciplinary system.
(C)
The program shall be made available to the employees or their collective
bargaining agent or both, upon request.
(2) Safe work practices.
(A) The employer shall eliminate or control
all existing and potential hazards within the workplace in a timely manner,
using one or more of the following:
(i)
Engineering and work practice controls designed to control employee exposures
to safety and health hazards by modifying the source to reduce
exposure.
(ii) Administrative
controls designed to control employee exposure to safety and health
hazards.
(iii) Requirements for the
distribution and proper use of personal protective equipment.
(iv) A program of medical examinations or
evaluations conducted by a qualified physician or health practitioner when
required by a standard.
(B) The employer shall ensure that practices
are understood by all employees and are underscored through training, positive
reinforcement, correction of unsafe performance, and, if necessary, through a
clearly defined and communicated disciplinary system.
(3) Periodic inspections. The employer shall
conduct periodic in-house safety and health inspections so that new or
previously missed hazards or failures in engineering, work practice, and
administrative controls are identified. The in-house inspections will be
conducted by individuals who are trained to recognize hazardous conditions, as
members of the safety and health committee or a person designated and trained
by the employer for the facility's safety and health program.
(4) Safety and health training.
(A) The employer shall develop and institute
a safety and health training program for all employees so they have an
understanding of the hazards to which they may be exposed, and the procedures
or practices needed to protect them from these hazards.
(B) In addition, supervisors and managers
shall be trained in the elements of the employer's safety and health program
and in the specific responsibilities assigned to them under the
program.
(C) The employer shall
ensure that the supervisors and managers understand their responsibilities
under the safety and health program and their importance to the safety and
health of the workplace. In particular, the training for managers and
supervisors shall enable them to:
(i)
Recognize potential hazards;
(ii)
Maintain safety and health protection in the work area; and
(iii) Reinforce employee training on the
nature of the potential hazards and required protective measures.
(c) The use of any machinery, tool, material, or equipment which is not in compliance with any applicable requirement of these standards is prohibited. The machine, tool, material, or equipment shall either be identified as unsafe by tagging or locking the controls to render them inoperable or shall be physically removed from its place of operation.
(d) The employer shall permit only those employees qualified by training or experience to operate equipment and machinery.
(e) For procedures in reporting accidents, consult section 12-52-8.
(f) All safety devices and safeguards in use shall be kept sound and operable.
(g) Any employee having knowledge of the existence of any unsafe device, practice, operation, safeguard, equipment, or condition shall promptly inform the supervisor or person in charge. A supervisor or person in charge to whose attention the existence of any unsafe device, practice, operation, safeguard, equipment, or condition is called shall take immediate steps to correct the unsafe condition or practice.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Hawaii may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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