Workplace Safety and Health Information for Employers

Identify hazards in your workplace

Some workplace hazards are obvious, like machinery that can cause injury or chemicals that can be poisonous. When identifying hazards in your workplace, remember to include things like stress, working long hours, working night shifts, and noise. Once you have identified the hazards in your workplace, you can take steps to make your workplace safer.

Adequate ventilation in the workplace is one way to address some workplace hazards, including reducing the risk of airborne viruses and other contaminants. Read about the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge (PDF) to learn how you can improve indoor air quality at your workplace. Carbon monoxide is one hazard that can be reduced with effective ventilation. Learn more about preventing carbon monoxide poisoning in the workplace by reading What Employers Need to Know about Carbon Monoxide, P-02486. Available in English and Spanish.

Workplace hazards can also be biological, such as poisonous plants and insects, or environmental, like long-term heat or cold exposure. These hazards can potentially cause uncommon conditions, that if left undetected and untreated may lead to death. For example, blastomycosis is a disease caused by a fungus too small to see with the naked eye. This fungus resides in dirt and soil, making it a potential hazard in outdoor workspaces. The fact sheet, Blastomycosis: Employers and Workers, P-03246 (available in English, Hmong, and Spanish), contains more information, including what symptoms to look out for and how to prevent your workers from being exposed to the fungus that causes blastomycosis.

Diseases are another type of workplace hazard. While some diseases spread from person-to-person, some diseases can spread to humans from animals. Workers who work with animals or animal products may need to take additional precautions to stay healthy. Health and safety information for farm workers can be found on the Occupational Health farm workers page.

Silica dust is a hazard that can cause irreversible lung damage if proper precautions are not taken. Read Silicosis: What Employers Need to Know, P-03261 (available in English, Spanish, and Hmong) to learn more about what silicosis is and how employers can minimize exposure to silica in the workplace. Learn more about silicosis and other occupational lung disease on the Occupational Lung Diseases webpage.

Thousands of Wisconsin workers are injured by slips, trips, and falls each year, some of them fatally. Falls are a particularly significant hazard in the construction industry. Learn how to prevent falls in construction sites at stopconstructionfalls.com.

Follow health and safety requirements

As an employer, you are required to provide a safe workplace for your employees. This means that you check your workplace to make sure there are no serious hazards, you train your employees in safe work practices, and you provide the equipment they need to do their job and stay safe. More information:

• Private employers in Wisconsin should refer to Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• Public sector employers should refer to Department of Safety and Professional Services.
• National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health's (NIOSH) Small Business Safety and Health Handbook provides practical steps for building an effective health and safety program in your workplace.
• WisCon offers free consultation to small businesses and public sector employers on workplace safety and health.

Make a plan for pregnant and breastfeeding workers

Some workplace exposure can be more dangerous for pregnant or breastfeeding workers than for other workers. Think about what jobs in your company could be hazardous for your pregnant workers, and share this information with employees. Offer them the option to temporarily transfer into safer jobs while they are pregnant or breastfeeding. If only one part of a pregnant worker's job is hazardous, offer to have another worker take over that specific task temporarily.

Plan to protect temporary workers

Workers in temporary placements face a higher risk of workplace injury than their non-temporary colleagues. Employers are still required to keep them safe. Learn more about protecting temporary workers on CDC's (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) website.

Personal protective equipment

Personal protective equipment protects workers from death, injuries, and illnesses. Learn more about this equipment at the NIOSH website.

Leading your organization to good health and safety practices makes good business sense. Here are some tools you can use:

• NIOSH Small Business Safety and Health Handbook.
• NIOSH Worker Well-Being toolkits and resources.
• Hierarchy of Controls Applied to Total Worker Health.
• Poster with worker's compensation information (PDF) from Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development.
• Working with stone, manufactured stone, brick, sand, or other materials containing silica? Share the stories of three Wisconsin workers impacted by silicosis.
  • Dave's story
  • Mark's story
  • Phillip's story
• Recovery-Ready Workplace Toolkit from the US Department of Labor.
• Avian Flu (HPAI) information for employers, P-03308, available in English and Spanish.
• What Employers Need to Know About Carbon Monoxide, P-02486, available in English and Spanish.
• Trichloroethylene (TCE) in the Workplace, P-03201, available in English, Spanish, and Hmong.
• Blastomycosis: Employers and Workers, P-03246, available in English, Spanish, and Hmong.
• Hazards to Outdoor Workers
• Wood Dust and Work-Related Asthma

WisCon: Wisconsin's free consulting service

Onsite Safety and Health Consultation in Wisconsin (WisCon) is a free consultation service for Wisconsin employers seeking to provide a safe and healthy work environment for their employees. Industrial hygienists, engineers, and nurses can evaluate and help you improve your hazard control measures for a safer work environment.

Request a free health hazard evaluation

If you want to make your workplace safer but don't know where to start, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health can help. A Health Hazard Evaluation is a free service from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that will give you advice about what kinds of health hazards might be in your workplace and what steps you can take to make your workplace safer. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health does not give fines if they find a hazard. Instead, they will help you fix the problems they find.

CDC-INFO

Contact CDC-INFO or call 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) for questions about workplace hazards. Your question will be referred to an occupational safety and health specialist.

OSHA

• All About OSHA: An introduction booklet (PDF) to OSHA.
• Information on Wisconsin Area Offices of OSHA.

NIOSH

• Small Business Occupational Safety and Health Resources from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
• Publications from NIOSH.

Wisconsin Occupational Health and Safety Program

• Email us at DHSOCCHEALTH@dhs.wisconsin.gov or at 608-266-1120.
• Additional resources can be found on the Workplace Safety and Health Information for Workers webpage.
• Information on worker lead exposure can be found on the Adult Lead Program's For Employers webpage.