News Release
US Department of Labor invites businesses, workers to share best workplace safety, health practices
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced an upcoming listening session with business owners, employers and workers to collect input on how organizations make safety and health a core value in their workplaces.
Led by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the “Safety as a Core Workplace Value” listening session will be held in-person and online on Wednesday, June 14, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The event will be held at the Frances Perkins Building, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW in Washington. The event is open to the public.
Register by June 7 to attend Safety as a Core Workplace Value in person or online. Attendees can choose from several levels of participation in the discussion. Online participation will be in listen-only mode and question and comment opportunities will not be available.
The session will seek public input in an effort to reduce workplace injuries and fatalities by increasing worker participation in safety and health programs. OSHA representatives are interested in the following areas:
- Connecting safety and health programs with a positive workplace safety culture.
- Understanding how employers include safety in a strong organizational culture.
- Identifying barriers and challenges to improving safety and health in the workplace.
- Reducing injuries, illnesses and fatalities.
- Learning how organizations succeed in promoting a culture of workplace safety.
“We invite employers and employees to share their valuable insights into how workers and their organizations successfully develop safety and health programs and their concerns about what needs improvement,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “Effective business operators listen to workers and align company values with best safety practices to keep people safe. Those who do improve job quality, reduce costs for medical care and lost time and make theirs a place people want to work.”
In advance of the event, OSHA asks participants to consider the following questions and to either offer their responses during the listening session or to submit all comments and attachments by Nov. 30, 2023 using the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal identified by Docket No. OSHA-2023-0011:
- Organization values are used as guiding principles for decisions and actions towards an organization’s goals, mission and vision. Using this definition, what would you say are your organization's values?
- Does your organization communicate safety and health in their values? If so, how?
- Please share an example of how you demonstrate that safety and health is an important value to you while at work?
- Does your organization promote safety and health in the workplace? If so, how?
- Depending on how long you have been at your current organization, please speak to how your organization’s safety and health needs have shifted over time?
- If you had important information you wanted to send to colleagues in your industry, how would you send it? What tools/methods/communication channels?
Read the full list of questions and submit comments and attachments to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal identified by Docket No. OSHA-2023-0011, Submit all comments by Nov. 30, 2023. Read the full docket for more details about electronic submissions.
