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... secretary of labor. When congress enacted the OSHA law, It provided for the rapid effect of such safety and health standards: 1. Those already on the books, such as the older Walsh-Healey Act 2. The immediate inclusion of consensus standards generally recognized by the industry 3. Emergency standards under section 6 4.
The rule making process under 6 (b) requiring the publishing of proposed new standards When congress enacted the OSHA act it realized that the new Occupational Safety and Health Administration could never promulgate safety and health standards to cover all possible or potential hazards under all conditions that may occur in all types of work environments. To fill this gap in the standards, the OSHA Act contains a general duty clause that requires employers to provide a safe and healthy work place that is free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees. There are certain key elements of the General Duty Clause that must exist in order for the citation under this clause to be considered plausible. First and foremost the hazard being cited must be a recognized hazard.
OSHA cannot expect an employer to protect against hazards that are not recognized as such. Once it is established that the hazard is recognized OSHA must also show that such hazards are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm. If this has not been established, then the citation under the general duty clause is not appropriate. Another aspect of the general duty clause is the feasibility factor. In any citation of the general duty clause, OSHA must show the feasible means of abating the hazard exist. The requirement to make and maintain certain records related to occupational safety and health has been in place since the OSHA act was enacted.
Congress realized that it would be necessary to obtain such information to statistically determine the need for new rule making based on trends in accident clause data. The Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Health and Human Services were both granted the authority to require employers to make records of employee injury and illness data, to maintain those records for specific periods of time, and to make records available to the Secretaries upon requests. During the first decade of OSHA, these requirements although mandatory, were not strictly enforced on a uniform basis. Even when employers were found to be in noncompliance with the record keeping requirements, OSHA could only fine them once for the violation regardless if there was one failure to comply or many. During the Regan administration, OSHA enacted its egregious policy, which allows the agency to cite each individuals failure to comply as a separate violation, even if the same standard was at issue in each case.
This led to multimillion-dollar fines based on record keeping violations alone. OSHA holds employers responsible for complying with provisions of the OSHA act, standards, and the general duty cause and other specific regulations. The agency does acknowledge that employers may not always be able to control the actions of employees who sometimes violate standards; employers must still prove that all possible actions were taken to prevent the violation. OSHA will hold employers responsible for compliance in most instances so it is important the employer understands the OSHA requirements and take any measures necessary to achieve compliance. To understand their compliance obligations, employers must first acknowledge that complying with OSHA regulations and standards is neither a selective or objective process.
Issues of interpretation, applicability, intent, fairness, and consistency often complicate the compliance process. Unfortunately, while such concerns are being addressed or ignored, the safety and the health of the workers can continue to remain at risk until resolution. At the time of the enactment, the primary intent of the OSHA act was to ensure the safety of the worker. Congress knew that employees would be an important element in the process and granted them certain rights under the act. Employee rights under the OSHA act include the right to complain about safety and health conditions in the workplace, which affect them. Complaints can be formal or informal, which maybe anonymous phone calls and unsigned letters.
Employees also have the right of protection against discriminatory acts for exercising their right to complain. The acts even authorizes OSHA to obtain injunctive and back pay relief for employees who are discriminated against under the act. The act also provides the right of an employee or their designated representative to accompany OSHA inspectors during their walk around inspection of plants, factories, and other work places. Employees can also be interviewed by the inspector with a guarantee of anonymity, without having any company management present. The act describes an employee representative as a union official or labor organization, an attorney for employees, or any other person acting as a bona fide representative.
Employees were also given the right to remove themselves from danger under criteria specified by the courts. The rights listed above were placed within the body of the OSHA so that employees could participate in the process of ensuring a safe and healthy work place. Employers should be aware that such provisions exist, since a violation in any of these rights can result in citations, fines, and penalties. Employers should know and understand employee obligations under the act. It is an important note that ensuring safety and health in the work place is not a one sided affair. Employers do bear the majority of the responsibility here, but employees must also do their part.
OSHA enforcement actions are the key to enforcing compliance with the provisions of the OSHA act. Such activities are the only way the agency can truly know the status of the employer compliance inspections are a primary element in the enforcement process while OSHA is Authorized to enter and inspect all workplaces covered by the act, the agency generally inspects less than two percent of these sites in any given year. Because of the limited resources and the fact that OSHA could never really visit all American work locations each year, the agency has established a scheduled priority of inspection activity. 1. Workplace situations that present imminent danger of causing death or serious injury are inspected first. 2. Osha will respond after a catastrophic accident involving a fatality and / or the hospitalization of three or more employees. 3.
OSHA will respond to formal employee complaints of alleged safety violations. 4. OSHA will regularly schedule inspections of high hazard industries. 5. OSHA will revisit a previously inspected facility to verify compliance and abatement practices are adequate. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Safety And Health Secretary Of Labor
