OSHA Lecture Notes Review

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts related to OSHA violations, standards, employer and employee responsibilities, and hazard recognition based on the provided lecture notes.

Section 5(a)(2) of the Act

States that each employer has a responsibility to comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under the act, including standards incorporated by reference.

Mandatory Provisions

Provisions of standards incorporated by reference that contain the word 'shall' or other mandatory language, adopted as standards under the act.

Specific Standards and Regulations

Found in Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1900 series, with Subparts A and B of 29 CFR 1910 establishing their source.

Vertical Standards

Standards that apply to a particular industry or to particular operations, practices, conditions, processes, means, methods, equipment, or installations.

Horizontal Standards

More general standards applicable to multiple industries.

Precedence of Standards

When a hazard is covered by both a vertical and a horizontal standard, the vertical standard generally takes precedence, even if the horizontal standard is more stringent. A horizontal standard can be cited if its requirements are not inconsistent or in conflict with the vertical standard and it offers greater protection.

CSHO

Compliance Safety and Health Officer, responsible for inspecting workplaces and identifying violations.

Variances

Modifications to an employer's requirement to comply with a standard, granted as outlined in Section 6(d) of the act.

Employee Exposure

A hazardous condition violating an OSHA standard or general duty clause can only be cited when employee exposure can be documented, having occurred within six months preceding the citation issuance (with exceptions for concealed conditions).

Employer/Employee Relationship

Determined primarily by who controls the manner in which workers perform their assigned work, not solely by who pays them.

Observed Exposure

Employee exposure is established if CSHOs witness, observe, or monitor the proximity or access of an employee to a hazard or potentially hazardous condition. Personal protective equipment alone may not adequately prevent exposure.

Unobserved Exposure

Employee exposure can be established through witness statements or other evidence if CSHOs did not witness, observe, or monitor it directly.

Past Exposure

Can be established in fatality/catastrophe investigations if exposure to a hazardous condition occurred at the time of the accident/incident, or if the condition continues to exist or is reasonably predictable to recur.

Potential Exposure

Can be established if there is evidence that employees have access to a hazard, such as when a hazard existed and could recur due to work patterns or their presence in an area during work-related activities.

Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200)

Requires chemical manufacturers and importers to classify the chemicals they produce or import; violations are cited regardless of employee exposure at the manufacturing or importing location.

Employer Responsibilities (Section 5(a))

To furnish each employee with employment and a place of employment free from recognized hazards causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm, and to comply with occupational safety and health standards.

Employee Responsibilities (Section 5(b))

To comply with occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations, and orders issued pursuant to the act applicable to their own actions and conduct.

Affirmative Defense

A claim which, if established by the employer, will excuse them from a violation that has otherwise been documented by the CSHO, often needing to be proven at the time of a hearing.

Multiemployer Work Sites

Work sites where more than one employer can be cited for a hazardous condition that violates an OSHA standard.

Serious Violation (Section 17k of the Act)

Exists if there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazardous condition or practice, unless the employer did not and could not, with reasonable diligence, know of the violation's presence.

Serious Physical Harm

Impairment of the body (functional uselessness or substantially reduced efficiency) that may be permanent or temporary, chronic or acute, usually requiring treatment by a medical doctor or other licensed health care professional.

General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1))

Specifies that each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.

Elements of a General Duty Clause Violation

Employer failed to keep the workplace free of a hazard, the hazard was recognized, it was likely to cause death/serious physical harm, and there was a feasible and useful method to correct it.

Hazard (Section 5(a)(1) Citation)

A workplace condition or practice to which employees are exposed, creating the potential for death or serious physical harm, which must be clearly stated and reasonably abated by the employer.

Reasonably Foreseeable Hazard

A hazard for which a citation is issued, even if all factors causing it are not present simultaneously, implying that the employer has not taken sufficient safety precautions to preclude the presence or use of hazardous elements.

Recognized Hazard

A hazard whose existence can be established on the basis of employer recognition (actual knowledge, internal documents, prior incidents, employee complaints), industry recognition, or, in special circumstances, common sense recognition.