WORKPLACE SAFETY
OSHA ’ s General Duty Clause
The Occupational Safety and Health Act ( OSHA ) was enacted to regulate workplace safety and health . The Act is administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( OSHA ).
The Act and its accompanying regulations identify a significant number of recognized hazards and establish safety and health standards to address them . OSHA standards are classified into four different groups : agriculture , construction , maritime and shipyard , and general industries .
Even when no standard specific to a recognized hazard applies , the Act imposes certain safety and health responsibilities on employers through a provision that is commonly known as the OSHA “ general duty clause .”
OSHA ’ s general duty clause requires covered employers to provide their employees with a safe work environment . A safe work environment must be free from recognized hazards if those hazards are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm .
GENERAL DUTY REQUIREMENTS
The general duty clause requires employers to provide each employee with a work environment that is “ free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm .” In general , OSHA and courts across the United States have established that employers violate the general duty clause if :
1 . They fail to keep the workplace free of a hazard to which employees were exposed ;
2 . The hazard was recognized ;
3 . The hazard was causing or was likely to cause death or serious physical harm ; and
4 . There was a feasible and useful method to correct the hazard .
All four of the conditions described above must be present before OSHA can issue a citation under the general duty clause . A “ hazard ” is a workplace condition or practice to which employees are exposed that creates the potential for employee death or serious physical harm .
HAZARD RECOGNITION
Hazards may be recognized by employers , the industry in which an employer operates , or through common sense . To establish
EMPLOYER RECOGNITION INDUSTRY RECOGNITION
• Safety or health experts who are familiar with the relevant conditions ( regardless of whether they work in the employer ’ s industry );
• Evidence that other members of the industry have implemented abatement methods to deal with the hazard ;
• Manufacturers ’ warnings and other literature ;
• Statistical or empirical studies conducted by the employer ’ s industry ;
• Government and insurance industry studies ( the employer or the industry must be familiar with the studies and recognize their validity );
• State or local laws ; and
• Industry participation in drafting national consensus standards .
• Written or verbal statements made by management or supervisors ( including internal memos );
• Operation manuals , safety work rules , and standard operating procedures that specifically identify the hazard ;
• Collective bargaining agreements ;
• Prior incidents , and accident and near-miss reports known to the employer ;
• Injury and illness reports , and workers ’ compensation data ;
• Prior OSHA inspections ;
• Grievances or safety committee reports ;
• Frequent employee complaints ( complaints cannot be off-hand comments ); and
• Employer-initiated corrective actions ( regardless of whether the employer adequately continued or maintained the corrective action or whether the corrective action provided adequate protection to the employees ).
4