Episode 173
Stop the Job: Don't Risk Injury for Productivity
Encouraging employees to stop the job in an unsafe scenario comes with a long list of complications. Listen in as Editor Sydny Shepard discusses how you can encourage employees to prioritize health and safety.
- By Sydny Shepard
- Nov 07, 2022
Each day is different and despite your best efforts to plan for every worst-case scenario, conditions of work can change on a dime. When this happens, what are your employees to do? Plow through for the sake of productivity or stop working altogether to avoid risk?
The obvious answer is stop working, but if you went up to one of your employees today and asked them if they felt comfortable stopping work because they felt they, or one of their colleagues, were engaging in unsafe work or the conditions of work had changed to be dangerous, what would they say? Would they say yes to you but then turn around and continue working no matter what the conditions of work are?
In our episode today, we are going to talk about Stop Work Authority, or a workers’ Right to Refuse, what it is, what OSHA says, and how you can adopt this policy to give employees confidence in their work and safety.
Download or stream this episode today at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and more.
About the Author
Sydny Shepard is the former editor of Occupational Health & Safety.