As a small business owner, we know you already have a ton on your plate. Between coming up with a business plan, marketing strategy, budget and more, it’s easy to let safety fall by the wayside and forget to come up with a hazard communication plan for your business.

No businesses are ever 100% safe from an emergency situation, and there will be times where you will need to facilitate a safety effort between your employees and management to ensure your team stays safe and knows exactly what to do in the event of an emergency.

Part of workplace safety is your Hazard Communication Plan.

What is a Hazard Communication Plan?

In short, an HCP is a plan that addresses several things, such as:

• Delegating safety personnel, who does what, why, etc.

• Educate employees on the proper use of chemicals or equipment used in their jobs.

• Coordinating and implementing a safety development plan or conduct safety training.

• What to do in the event of an emergency; chemical, medical, external threat etc.

Steps for Creating a Hazard Communication Plan:

When you think of Haz Com, you may primarily be thinking about chemical safety, and in many cases, this is what these plans address, however, there are often more threats than chemical safety that should be considered in your plan as well.

1. Step one of a safety plan is to identify staff and who is responsible for what.

2. Step two of a safety plan is preparing and implementing a written Haz Com Program.

3. Step three (In regards to chemical safety,) is to label hazardous chemicals and materials used in your business or in the normal operations of your staff. This includes labels on shipped containers, workplace containers, and more.

4. Step four of a safety plan is to maintain Safety Data Sheets where applicable, and ensuring that employees both a. know where to find them for easy access and reference, and b. updating and reviewing SDS’s as needed.

5. Step five is to train and inform employees, even those who may not have direct access to chemicals or other safety hazards so that everyone is on the same page and knows what to do in the event of an emergency. Consider some topics that may be most prevalent to your industry, and do a risk assessment of what possible hazards may arise.

6. Step six is to review and reassess your safety plan as needed so that it stays up to date, relevant and make it available to all your employees.

To learn more about some of the steps required to create a hazard communication plan, refer to this document by OSHA.

 Stay safe out there!