A8 - EE Safety and Health Flashcards
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
- “to assure the safety/health of America’s workers by setting/enforcing standards; providing training, olutreach, and ed.; establ. partnerships; and ecnouraging continual improvements in workplace safety and health”
- very effective in reducing the number of injuries resulting in lost work time, the incident rate of specific injuries such as back probs, and the number of job-related deaths
OSHA coverage requirements
ENTITIES - cov’d / not cov’d
- COVERED:
- all private sector EEs and public EEs in state/local gov’ts
- Fed’d agencies are required to estab. and maintain a safety and health program that is monitored by OSHA
- NOT COVERED: self-employed workers
- 1/2 of the states have their own program for private/public workers (enforce it)
OHSA Standards
- develop and enforce mandatory job safety and health standards
- cover the workplace, machinery/equipment, materials, power sources, processing, protective clothing, first aid, and admin. requirements
- ER responsibility: ensure that their EE use personal protective gear and equipment when required for safety
- use Sec. of Health and Human Services and Nat’l Instit. for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to begin setting standards
- the major source of setting standards
- agency of Dept. of HHS
- responsible for conducting research on various safety and health probs., including the psychological factors involved
Nat’l Insti. for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH)
Enforcing OSHA standards
- workplace inspections
- issue citations
- impose penalities on ERs
- Additional:
- provide free on-site consultation service to help firms ID hazardous conditions and how to correct them
- involved w/ voluntary, cooperative relationships among ERs, EEs, and unions
OSHA’s system of inspection priorities
- First Level: inspection of imminent danger situations
- Second Level: invest. of catastrophes, fatalities, and accidents that result in hospitalization of 5 or more EEs
- Third Level: Invest. of valid EE compliants of alleged violations of standards or of unsafe or unhealthful working conditions
- Fourth Level: Special-emphasis inspections aimed at specific high-hazard industries, occupations, or substance that are injurious to health
Workplace Inspections
- enter w/out delay and at reasonable times
- inspect and invest. during reg hrs and at other reasonable times and w/in reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner
- inpectors arrive at work site unannounced and ask for a meeting w/ rep of the ER
- inspectors explain the purpose of the visit
- describe the procedure for the inspection
- ask to review the ER’s safety/health records
- ER may either agree voluntarily or required to obtain a search warrant
- gives both the ER and the EEs the right to accompany inspections
Citations and Penalties
- may be issued immediately follwing the inspection or later by mail
- tells the ER and EEs which regs and standards that are violated
- amt of time allowed for their correction
- ER must post a copy of each citation at or near the place the violation occurred for 3 days or until the violation is abated - whichever is longer
(3) types of citations/penalties
- other-than-serious
- serious
- willful
- type of citation
- violation that has a direct relationship to job safety and health but one unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm
other-than-serious citation
penalty for other-than-serious citations
- could be as low as $100
- OSHA may propose a penalty of up to $7,000 for each violation depending on the circumstance
- type of citation
- violation for which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the ER knew, or should have known, of the hazard
serious citation
penalty for serious citations
- avg penalty imposed is $3,000 - $4,000
- max is $7,000 per violation
- type of citation
- violation that the ER intentionally and knowingly commits or ER commits w/ plain indifference to the law
willful citation
penalty for willful citation
- penalties of up to $70,000 for each violation or $75,000 per exposed EE for a willful penalty
- if it results in death: penalties up to $250,000 for an indiv. or $500,000 for a corporation, imprisonment of up to 6 months, or both
OSHA Consultation Assistance
- onsite consultation
- cooperative programs
- Alliances
- Strat. Partnership Progs. (SPPs)
- Voluntary Protection Progs. (VPPs)
- Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Prpg. (SHARP)
ONSITE Consultation Assistance
- free
- help ERs ID hazardous conditions and determine corrective measures
- ERs may receive training and ed.
- no citations are issued in connection w/ consultation
- may qualify ERs for a 1-yr exemption from routine OSHA inspections
- type of cooperative program consultation assistance
- enable orgs to collaborate w/ OSHA to prevent injuries and illnesses in the workplace
- define, implement, and meet a set of S/T and L/T goals to improve workplace health/safety
Alliances
- type of cooperative program consultation assistance
- L/T agreements b/w ERs and OSHA aimed at reducing serious workplace hazards and achieving a high level of worker health/safety
Strategic Partnership Progs. (SPPs)
- type of cooperative program consultation assistance
- OSHA’s effort to expand worker protection beyond the min. required OSHA standrads
- (3) - Star, Merit, and Demonstration - each designed to recognize, motivate, or estab. a cooperative relationship b/w ERs and OSHA
Voluntary Protection Programs (VPPs)
- type of cooperative program consultation assistance
- OSHA certif. prog. that recognizes small ERs w/ exemplary achievements in workplace safety/health
- exempted from OSHA’s reg. inspections as long as their certif. remain valid
Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Prog. (SHARP)
ERs’ Responsibilities and Rights
- provide hazard-free workplace
- comply w/ the applicable standards
- must inform all EEs about safety/health requirements of OSHA - listed in OSHA’s publication “All about OSHA”
- requ’d to keep certain records
- compile and post an annual summ of work-related injuries and illnesses - compute incident rate
- provide EEs w/ protective equipment and ensure it is used
- provide safety training and be prepared to discipline EEs for failing to comply w/ training/rules
- no discrim. against EEs that exercise their rights to file w/ OSHA
this can be used to provide a starting point for analyzing prob. areas, changing the working environment, and motivating personnel to promote safty and health
Incident Rate
Incident Rate =
of injuries/illnesses per 100 FT EEs per yr
- Can also be used to compute:
- # of workdays lost b/c of injuries/illnesses
- # of nonfatal injuries/illnesses w/o lost workdays
- cases involving only injuries or only illnesses
- used to compare dept to dept or across different orgs. doing similar work