Environment & Safety

Virtually every commercial lithographic printer in the United States, regardless of size, is required to comply with OSHA standards. There is an incorrect assumption that if a company has fewer than 10 employees, then OSHA’s regulations do not apply. This is not true, but the actual regulatory requirements depend on the number of employees, site-specific operations, work practices, and processes. Printing operations with larger facilities, comprehensive operations, special equipment configurations, or a greater number of employees will find that additional regulations may apply.

At the heart of any OSHA compliance program is gaining an understanding of the core regulations and their associated compliance requirements. Once this is accomplished, the printing operation will have the necessary knowledge to implement the specific elements for each requirement until eventually a complete safety program is developed and incorporated as a regular component of the business operation.

To assist in this effort the Printing Industries of America’s Environmental, Health, and Safety Affairs department has developed an OSHA Primer. It is a basic resource to provide an overview of federal OSHA, and general industry regulations commonly affecting the printing industry and some basic compliance information. The primer is designed to be a valuable reference tool for printers who are new to dealing with safety and OSHA regulations or those individuals who simply need a refresher on the basic regulations and their fundamental elements.

Another effective and valuable resource available is a recent webinar called How to Prepare for the New Aggressive OSHA Inspections presented byRick Hartwig, manager, Environmental, Health, and Safety Affairs. The webinar highlights the recent enforcement actions taken by OSHA and the increased number of inspections. The program is designed to help printers understand the scope of the new enforcement procedures, the types of OSHA inspection programs, and how to prepare and re-direct their focus on the necessary compliance requirements.

If you need more information or assistance with compliance efforts, contact Rick Hartwig at 800-910-4283, ext. 792 or rhartwig@printing.org