Workplace Safety

Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP)

• About SHARP
• Frequently Asked Questions

About SHARP

SHARP can:

• Reduce your workers compensation premiums
• Improve the safety & health of your employees
• Improve employee morale & increase productivity

The Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) provides incentives and support to small, high-hazard employers to work with their employees to develop, implement, and continuously improve the effectiveness of their workplace safety and health programs.

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Why should our company participate in SHARP?
• What criteria do we have to meet to participate in SHARP?
• What happens if our company is interested in SHARP, but does not meet the qualifications at this time?
• Will federal OSHA perform scheduled inspections in my facility while I am in the process of the SHARP exemption?
• Whom do I contact in order to participate or to learn more about SHARP?

Why should our company participate in SHARP?

There are many benefits to the SHARP employer.

SHARP can:

• Reduce your workers compensation premiums
• Improve the safety & health of your employees
• Improve employee morale & increase productivity

Organizations with a well-managed and effective safety and health program require less government enforcement oversight. Companies who successfully complete the requirements for SHARP will receive a one-year exemption from OSHA's General Schedule Inspections. However, OSHA still reserves the right to respond to fatalities/catastrophes, formal employee complaints, imminent danger situations, and follow-up inspections from previously cited violations. A certificate signed by the Assistant Secretary of OSHA is awarded to the company as a participant in SHARP.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of having a comprehensive safety and health program and participation in SHARP is that employees recognize that their employer is concerned about their personal well-being.

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What criteria do we have to meet to participate in SHARP?

1. Have a lost workday injury and illness rate (LWDII) and total recordable case rate (TRCR) below the national average for the respective company's industry.
2. Be a single, fixed worksite.
   NOTE: Multiple worksites under common management will be evaluated and approved separately. Mobile worksites such as construction are not currently eligible for SHARP.
3. Be in operation at least one year.
4. Have an effective, written comprehensive safety and health management program.
5. Involve employees in the development, operation, and improvement of the workplace safety and health program.
6. Agree to a full service safety and health consultation by the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL).
7. Agree to correct all hazards identified by KDOL.
8. Agree to an annual full service safety and health consultation by KDOL as a requirement for renewal of the SHARP.

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What happens if our company is interested in SHARP, but does not meet the qualifications at this time?

Companies who are interested in the SHARP program but currently do not meet the qualifications should not be discouraged. In some cases, companies will take two to three years to meet all of the requirements for SHARP. With this in mind, the Kansas Department of Labor has designated a SHARP coordinator whose duties are devoted to providing safety and health program assistance for all companies interested in SHARP. The SHARP coordinator is committed to working with interested companies in order to help them achieve SHARP designation.

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Will federal OSHA perform scheduled inspections in my facility while I am in the process of the SHARP exemption?

A Pre-Sharp Inspection Deferral of up to 18 months may be offered to an employer who corrects all hazards identified during the consultation visit and shows reasonable promise of achieving milestones and time frames agreed upon with the SHARP coordinator.

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Whom do I contact in order to participate or to learn more about SHARP?

Call us at (785) 296-4386 or send your formal request via e-mail to: Cliff.Morris@dol.ks.gov. Your request will be forwarded to the SHARP coordinator who will contact you.

You can also contact us at:

Kansas Department of Labor
Industrial Safety and Health Division
800 SW Jackson, Suite 1500
Topeka, KS 66612-1200
(785) 296-4386

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