UOSH Consultation: Helping Utah Employers Build Safer Workplaces

Education, prevention, and collaboration are at the heart of workplace safety efforts. Through training, outreach, consultation, and voluntary safety programs, safety professionals help employers identify hazards, strengthen safety practices, and create healthier, safer workplaces for employees across Utah.

For many Utah employers, creating a safer workplace starts not with enforcement, but with education, collaboration, and prevention. That’s the mission of the Utah Occupational Safety and Health (UOSH) Consultation Unit — a team dedicated to helping employers identify hazards, strengthen safety programs, and prevent injuries before they happen.

Unlike enforcement inspections, UOSH Consultation services are voluntary, confidential, and offered at no cost to employers across the state. The unit’s consultants work directly with businesses on-site, providing tailored guidance, training, and support to improve workplace safety and health programs while helping reduce injuries, illnesses, and workers’ compensation costs.

“Most people have heard of OSHA, but very few know what UOSH is or what we do,” says Evelyn Partner, UOSH’s Compliance Assistance Specialist (CAS) and Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Coordinator. “Consultation especially suffers from this. People don’t realize this service exists, or that it’s free.”

The Consultation Unit’s work spans every industry imaginable. From manufacturing facilities and construction sites to public sector organizations and small businesses, consultants help employers recognize risks, understand standards, and develop practical solutions tailored to their workplaces.

Partner understands the value of this work from firsthand experience. After joining UOSH in 2000 as a Compliance Officer, she spent 16 years as a UOSH Consultant, including many years serving public sector employers. That background now informs her current role, which focuses heavily on outreach, education, and connecting employers with available safety resources.

“I love working with employers and employees who are willing to learn,” she says. “The goal is prevention. We want to help organizations avoid the serious injuries and fatalities that can change lives forever.”

Education is central to the Consultation Unit’s mission. Through conferences, training sessions, presentations, and community outreach, UOSH works to increase awareness of workplace safety responsibilities and available support services. Partner, who regularly speaks to employers and professional groups across the state, emphasizes that consultation can only begin when employers invite the team in, but many who use the service return again and again after seeing the benefits.

The unit’s preventive approach aligns closely with UOSH’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), a federal OSHA initiative recognizing employers with exceptional safety and health programs. More than an award or certification, VPP is designed to encourage a proactive safety culture built on management commitment, employee involvement, hazard prevention, and continuous improvement. Participating employers undergo a rigorous evaluation process, including comprehensive on-site reviews, to demonstrate that their safety systems meet high performance standards. For Utah employers, VPP offers both recognition and practical value — helping organizations strengthen safety programs, reduce injuries and costs, improve employee engagement, and distinguish themselves as industry leaders committed to protecting their workforce. As VPP Coordinator, Partner helps oversee evaluations of participating companies and supports networking among organizations committed to safety excellence.

At its core, the Consultation Unit’s mission is about helping people. Whether through training, hazard identification, program improvement, or ongoing guidance, the work is designed to ensure Utah workers return home safely at the end of the day.

“Much of what we do can be perceived as regulatory,” Partner says. “But when we can provide helpful information, education, or connect employers to Consultation services, we can make a real difference.”

For Utah employers seeking to strengthen workplace safety, the UOSH Consultation Unit remains one of the state’s most valuable resources.