Who is eligible?
The size requirements for employer participation in SHARP are 250 or fewer onsite employees and fewer than 500 corporate-wide employees. This upper corporate size limit does not apply to individual franchisees. To qualify, an employer must have a strong safety and health program implemented and have an injury and illness rate below the national average of their industry. All consultation services are provided completely free of charge.
What are the benefits?
By achieving SHARP status, employers will place themselves in an elite group of small businesses that maintain exemplary safety and health programs. The worksite will have an injury and illness rate below their industry average, improving morale and lowering costs. Employers in SHARP are deferred from programmed compliance inspections for up to two years. This means the worksite is removed from the compliance programmed inspections list. Other benefits include providing protection, creating a good work culture, building a good reputation, and saving money – review the specifics below:
Provide Protection
- Protect workers from safety and health hazards that may exist at your workplace.
- Implement best practices to protect your workers.
- Develop innovative safety and health programs for your business.
Create a Culture of Safety
- Create a better working environment free of safety and health hazards.
- Boost worker morale by involving workers in creating a culture that emphasizes a safe and healthy workplace.
- Improve communication among workers and management.
- Encourage safety in the community as workers may transfer safe and healthy work practices outside of the workplace.
Build a Reputation
- Receive official NCDOL recognition for your achievement of SHARP status and for maintaining exemplary safety and health programs.
- Become a leader in your industry by providing a safe and healthy workplace for workers.
- Attract skillful workers looking to join a business that is at the forefront of its industry in providing a safe and healthy workplace for its workers.
Save Money
- Lower workers’ compensation insurance premiums.
- Improve worker retention and reduce costly turnover.
- Reduce worker days away from work to keep operations and production running smoothly.