The details, costs and levels of severity may vary by company and industry, but every business will have its own safety policies and procedures. While every enterprise needs to strictly enforce its policies, however, many do not. These companies eventually find themselves in hot water with government agencies, at the centers of lawsuits for serious injuries, illnesses and unnecessary deaths.

Small businesses may not have as many employees to care for, but they face the same safety challenges as large corporations. In fact, their safety issues are often harder to handle because of their lower budgets and smaller staffs. They still have to meet almost all of OSHA’s requirements for larger companies, and their workers still need adequate safety training, protective equipment and ongoing support. If you’re managing safety for a small business—or if you’re the business owner yourself—use these seven tips to keep your workers safe.

Compliance is such an important part of a safety manager’s position, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Day-today responsibilities make it difficult to stay on top of changing regulations and ensure all workers are aware of those changes.

Early each year, it’s common for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to review the previous year and make changes for the year ahead. We’ve done some digging and found the top 5 changes in OSHA regulations you should know for 2016:

Given the hazards of the modern workplace, the rising costs of medical care and OSHA’s growing list of rules, you should never have to compromise on your workers’ safety. Still, you will need to make a case to your higher-ups before they’ll spend money on safety initiatives. Executives must answer to board members, after all, and every decision must ultimately save the company money.

Are you staying up to speed with your Process Safety Management (PSM) program? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) created the first PSM requirements in 1992 in response to a series of catastrophic incidents related to highly hazardous chemicals (HHC). These requirements have been updated and expanded several times in the last two decades, and all HHC-related companies should keep a lookout as they operate and expand. To make sure your company is compliant, keep in mind the following 14 elements that OSHA inspectors will look for when they review your PSM program.

Worker safety is of the utmost importance in the workplace and applies to any type of company. It is the company’s responsibility to provide safe working conditions and the safety manager’s responsibility to be the main point of contact for employees, especially those who work in hazardous environments, to ensure employee safety is a top priority. Safety managers must comply with OSHA requirements and can face fines, penalties and even criminal charges if they don’t.

Running up an icy flight of stairs. 
Tripping and catching onto something to break a fall. 
Jumping out of the way of an oncoming vehicle just in time.

Every day, workers narrowly avoid accidents that could have resulted in serious injury.

These near-miss incidents serve as a warning to companies that procedures must be reconsidered to avoid serious injury or death. Research has shown that major incidents typically are preceded by near-misses, meaning they could have been avoided had the near-miss been reported.

But employers will only know that these situations have occurred if they are reported accurately.

Here are three ways near-miss reporting can help improve safety procedures.

The utilities industry is still one of the most dangerous in the country. Approximately 444 serious injuries and 74 fatalities occur each year among people performing work involving electric power generation, transmission and distribution, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Common hazards include falls, electric shock and burns, all of which can lead to serious injury and death.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways utility workers and their employers can create safer working conditions – all the while saving time and money and creating a happier, healthier working environment. Complying with OSHA standards is a good start, but most companies need to go above and beyond those standards to create the safest conditions possible.

Here are a few ways your utility company can empower its workers for managing safety.

Unsafe practices in confined spaces can lead to severe injuries, even death. 

A temporary worker in Illinois was crushed to death earlier this year when he entered a concrete mixer's mud hopper. In order to prevent such accidents and losses, safety managers must comply with OSHA's confined space regulations. 

Confined spaces—also called “permit-required spaces” or “permit spaces”—are areas not necessarily designed for people, but large enough for workers to enter and perform certain jobs, according to OSHA. These spaces, which include silos, storage bins, manholes and ductwork, have limited means of entry or exit and are not designed for continuous occupancy. 

Here are a few tips you can use to keep your employees safe and your company compliant while working in confined spaces.  

Sometimes we take it for granted that we work with grown-ups. Then we walk onto the production floor to find cleaning supplies scattered on the floor, stray extension cords running in all directions and ladders haphazardly leaning against a wall. 

For reasons we may never understand, some workers just can’t seem to clean up after themselves. Maybe they’re not used to doing it around their own homes, or they’re so caught up in the task at hand they overlook the mess they leave behind. 

Whatever the case, there’s no excuse for bad housekeeping.