Regardless of what type of work you do or the nature of the environment in which you perform that work, you and all employees in Minnesota should feel confident that you are safe while you are at work. In addition to a basic human obligation to provide a safe workplace, your employer is mandated by laws surrounding workplace safety. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration develops and monitors many of these laws in the United States.
Another organization known as the International Organzation for Standardization is a global entity that develops numerous guidelines and standards for businesses to follow. ISO is currently in the process of creating a new set of standards known as ISO 45001. These will be related to occupational health and safety with the goal being improved safety on job worksites for all employees. Businesses in any sector may utilize the ISO standards.
The predicted timeline for the ISO 45001 standards would have them approved by the end of this calendar year. Documents would then be published in the first couple of months of 2018. ISO has taken this step in part due to statistics from the International Labor Organization that indicate as many as 2.3 million people die every year from job-related illnesses or accidents across the globe.
If you would like to learn more about the standards to which your employer should adhere when it comes to keeping you and your co-workers safe, please feel free to visit the employment safety page of our Minnesota workplace injury and illness website.