eRules : Formatting for the Future

1. Division of Occupational Safety & Health eRules:Formatting for the Future

2. eRules This presentation gives an overview of DOSH’s eRules project. The goal of the project is to make DOSH rules… • Easy to read, understand, and refer to • Available online to any Internet-capable device in a form that is easy to search and print • All share a single format

3. Regulations were designed primarily for people whose jobs were to enforce them, including issuing violations to employers and defending violationsin court. First, a look back…

4. L&I customers found the regulations hard to read and use. In the 1990s, the Innovations Project set out to help our customers by making regulations more readable and useable. Customers liked the new format, and it even wonawards. But…

5. … time revealed that • the Innovated format made it harder for L&I staff involved in enforcing the regulations to do their jobs, and • sometimes requirements were inadvertently changed when interpreted for the new format.

6. Lesson Learned: Rule format must meet the needs of allcustomers: Employers, Employees, Unions, Business Groups DOSH Compliance, Consultation, Appeals, AAGs Content that allows clear and specific violations Requirements expressed as discrete ‘items’ of info Every item numbered or lettered (not bullets) Enough levels of structure to allow referring to specific requirements • Content that is readable • Shorter sentences • Shorter paragraphs • Vocabulary like conversation • Talks directly to the reader • Content that is useable • Easy to find the right info • Easy to know exactly what to do or not do

7. Meanwhile, efforts were under way to bring Safety & Health regulations to the Internet… …with mixed results: Changes to the agency-wide web page template ‘broke’ DOSH’s award-winning web pages, creating... • Doubled bullets:

8. Tinyfonts • Other format issues like incorrect spacing

9. Differences crept in among some web versions, printable versions, printed versions, and Code Reviser versions of the same regulations. • Currently on the DOSH website: • 80% of the rules display as ‘broken’ HTML pages. • 8% of the rules are available as .pdffiles. • We redirect users to the Code Reviser site (opened in a new window) for 12% of the rules.

10. Where we stand today: • Regulations published in different formats, and web pages published by different sources, cause confusion and frustration for customers • Code Reviser site falls short for viewing rules, especially on new devices • Reasonable to assume these problems could compromise worker safety and health • Budget cuts mean fewer resources for more work • Lean methods call for improved efficiency

11. eRules:Formatting for the Future Attributes of eRules format: • Information ‘chunked’ into smaller pieces • Every item lettered or numbered (virtually no bullets) • Larger section headings, separate from text, make it easier to see where sections start and end • What you see online is how it prints

12. Overall ‘look-and-feel’ of the eRules format

13. Example: Administrative Rules as currently displayed in file for printing

14. Example: Administrative Rules in eRules format for viewing or printing

15. eRules: Formatting for the Future • For Employers, Employees, Unions, Business Groups: • Fast, ‘anywhere’ access to rules helps customers prevent accidents and injuries • Always the current version • Easy to search on any word • Easy to read and understand • Helps customers avoid violations • Helps “Keep Washington safe and working”

16. eRules: Formatting for the Future • For DOSH Compliance, Consultation, Appeals, AAGs: • Fast, ‘anywhere’ access to rules • Easy to search on any word • Always the current version • More precise violations for • Increased consistency across inspections • Faster abatement

17. eRules:Formatting for the Future For DOSH Standards Group: • Online files come directly from Word documents: fast and accurate to maintain ONE version • Facilitates future projects like “Download Your Book of Rules” • Effective use of $tate fund$ • Done with existing staff (Lean) • Radically reduces the number of printed copies/CDs created, warehoused, and distributed

18. eRules:Formatting for the Future .pdf – An electronic format that serves all devices • An Internet standard readable by any Internet-capable device • Searchable by any word you choose • Allows live links throughout for fast navigation

19. eRules:Formatting for the Future The approach: • Change NO requirements – only format • Start with Innovated rules (Core Rules – 800 series) which are the rules most commonly used by most of our customers

20. Example: Compressed Air Works in current format for viewing

21. Example: Compressed Air Works in eRules format to view or print

22. Current format: Paragraph (5), WAC 296-36-100 Compression and decompression of workmen--General.

23. eRules format: Paragraph (5), WAC 296-36-100 Compression and decompression of workmen--General.

24. eRules:Formatting for the Future The target timeline: • First rule filing of about five rules in June ‘13 • Additional rule filings about every 3-4 months.

25. eRules:Formatting for the Future To sum up: With DOSH’s eRules formatting project… • Rules are easier to read, understand, and refer to • Rules are accessible, readable, and searchable on any Internet-capable device • Rules all share the same format

26. eRules:Formatting for the Future See samples of eRules at http://eRules.LNI.WA.Gov