governmental and other agencies

U.S. department of labor

all “labor” related laws

parts of department of labor

• executive department of president

• secretary of labor

• mine safety and health administration

• occupational safety and health administration

occupational safety and health act of 1970

established OSHA and its responsibility to provide worker safety and health protection

OSHA

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration

• Douglas L. Parker

OSHA mission

• save lives

• prevent injuries

• protect America’s workers

non-covered entities of OSHA

• self-employed individuals

• immediate members of farming families on farms that do not employ outside workers

• employees whose working conditions are regulated by other federal agencies under other federal statutes

• public employees in state and local governments

• armed services

organization of OSHA

• 10 regional offices

• state offices

OSHA’s basic strategies

• strong, fair and effective enforcement of developed standards

• outreach, education and compliance assistance for businesses

• partnerships and other cooperative programs with businesses

where are all federal laws published

Code of Federal Regulations

29 CFR

Department of Labor

subpart G

occupational health and environmental control

subpart H

hazardous materials

1910.119

process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals

1910.120

hazardous waste operations and emergency response

subpart I

personal protective equipment

subpart Z

toxic and hazardous standards

General duty clause

• “catch all” citations

• covers unsafe conditions for which a specific regulation does not exist

when will a general duty citation be issued

• employers failed to keep the workplace free of a hazard to which employees of that employer were exposed

• hazard was recognized

• hazard was causing or likely to cause death, or serious physical harm

• feasible and useful method to correct the hazard

what does OSHA have the authority to inspect or investigate

• workplace conditions

• accident reports

• medical records

• IH survey results

• other documentation

special circumstances where OSHA may give employer advance notice of an inspection

• imminent danger situations, which require correction immediately

• inspections that must take place after regular business hours or require special preparation

• cases where OSHA must provide advance notice to assure that the employer and employee representative or other personnel will be present

• situations in which OSHA determines that advance notice would produce a more thorough or effective inspection

imminent danger

any condition where there is reasonable certainty that a danger exists that can be expected to cause death or serious physical harm immediately

catastrophes and fatal accidents

incidents resulting in the death of any employee or the hospitalization of three or more employees

employee complaints

those involving imminent danger or an employer violation that threatend death or serious physical harm

referrals

from other individuals, agencies, organizations or the media

planned or programmed inspections

scheduled inspections for industries with a high number of hazards and associated injuries

follow-ups

of previous inspections to ensure agreed upon corrective actions have been completed

what does a typical OSHA on-site inspection include

• presentation of inspector credentials

• an opening conference

• an inspection walk-around

• record review

• closing conference

elements of the opening conference

• explains why the establishment was selected

• obtains information

• explains the purpose and scope of the inspection, walk-around procedures, employee representation, employee interviews and the closing conference

• determines whether an OSHA funded consultation is in progress or whether the facility has received an inspection exemption

inspection walk-around

• compliance officer and representatives proceed through the establishment, inspecting work areas for potentially hazardous working conditions

• compliance officer discusses possible corrective actions with the employer

records review

compliance officer check posting and record-keeping practices

what citations does OSHA inform the employer and employees of

• regulations and standards the employer allegedly violated

• any hazardous working conditions covered by the OSH Act’s general duty clause

• proposed length of time set for abatement of hazards

• any proposed penalties

classes of penalties

• serious violations

• willful

• repeat

• failure to abate

• other than serious

serious violations

• substantial probability that death or serious physical harm may result, and employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard

• mandatory penalty of up to $7,000

other than serious

• violations that have a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm

willful

• employer intentionally and knowingly commits a violation or a violation that the employer commits with a plain indifference to the law

repeat

• violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order where OSHA finds a substantially similar violation during a re-inspection

failure to abate

• each day an employer fails to correct a previously cited violation beyond the agreed upon date

ways to contest a citation

• obtain a better explanation of the violations cited

• obtain a more complete complete understanding of the specific standards which apply

• negotiate and enter into an informal settlement agreement

• discuss ways to correct the violations

• discuss problems with the abatement dates

• discuss problems concerning employee

• resolve disputed citations/ penalties

MSHA

mine safety and health administration

DHHS

department of health and human services

tasks of NIOSH

• conducts research and training in occupational safety and health

• develops criteria

• publishes analytical methods

• publishes list of toxic substances

• inspections

• list of certified safety equipment

NTP

national toxicology program

AIHA

american industrial hygiene association

ACGIH

american conference of governmental industrial hygienists

ABIH

american board of industrial hygiene

NFPA

national fire protection association

IARC

international agency for research on cancer