Safety Consultation WSC offers free, confidential assistance, on request, to help employers improve their safety and health record, lower the cost of accidents and reduce OSHA-issue citations and penalties. This program targets small, high-hazard businesses. No citations or penalties are issued as a result of using these services, although any problems identified by a WSC consultant that are not corrected by the employer can be reported to MN OSHA Compliance staff for further investigation. WSC consultants will help employers recognize hazards, make recommendations for solving problems and suggest other sources of help that may be available. In order to receive these services, the employer must commit to the timely correction of any serious safety or health hazard that may be found during the site visit by WSC consultants. Once an employer makes that commitment, the WCS consultant conducts a site visit and issues a report containing recommendations. Minnesota Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (MNSHARP) MNSHARP is a voluntary, consultation-based program that assists small, high-hazard employers in achieving safety and health improvements and recognizes them for doing so. Eligibility is limited to employers with up to 250 employees at the work site and not more than 500 at all sites corporation-wide; priority is given to employers with fewer than 100 employees. Participating employers receive a comprehensive safety and health consultation survey that results in a one- year action plan. During that year, participating employers must correct identified hazards and develop and implement an effective safety and health program; all employees must participate in these efforts. When the participating employer has met the requirements of the preceding sentence, and its lost-workday injury and illness rate falls below the national average for their industry, that employer is awarded with a MNSHARP Certificate of Recognition and for the next year that employer is exempted from programmed inspections from MNOSHA. Participating employers can enjoy renewed Certificates, as well as a continuance of their exemption from those programmed exemptions, if an on-site safety and health survey by WSC confirms that the employer is continuing to meet the requirements of MNSHARP. MNSTAR Program This program is a voluntary one, available to any employer in Minnesota, including small employers who previously successfully participated in MNSHARP. MNSTAR relies mainly on self-assessment by the employer, using the federal Voluntary Protection Program (see OSHA Instruction TED 8.1A, Revised Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) Policies and Procedures Manual ). Participating in MNSTAR requires the employer to commit to completing an extensive application, which will include providing WSC with copies of all the written policies and programs of the employer that WSC requests. In addition, the employer’s lost workday injury and illness rate must be below state and national levels for its industry. Labor-Management Safety and Health Committees All employers with at least 25 employees are required to have a safety and health committee comprised of representatives from labor and management. Also, any other employer is likewise required to have such a committee if: that employer has a lost workday cases incidence rate in the
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