Occupational Health and Safety Act 1970

This article discusses the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1970, its aim to protect employees from workplace hazards, and the steps to be taken after receiving OSHA citation. It also covers the available options and contacts, and the importance of documentation of necessary responses. The subject is Occupational Health and Safety, and the course code and college/university are not mentioned.

Running head: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT 1970
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Occupational Health and Safety Act 1970 is the labor law of the United States of
America and governs the rights of people working in private sector or federal government. The
prime aim of this act is to save the employees and workers from potential hazards of workplace
such as chemicals, reagents, noise pollution and mechanical damage and so on (United States
Department of Labor, 2017). There is a set of penalties and proper citation and notification of
those penalties that are imposed on the organization by violating the norms of occupational
health and safety. This assignment is going to discuss the topics, which will involve the steps that
need to be taken after the company receives letter about citation and penalties, what are the
options available, what contacts need to be made and documentations of necessary responses.
Steps need to be taken after receiving OSHA citation
After receiving the OSHA letter, at first, posting of the violation is required in a copy,
containing citation and notification of copy. This notification need to be posted in the place
where the violation happened, so that the entire affected employee could see the notification. All
the employees should be made aware of the potential hazard. The citation should remain posted
in the violation point should remain there for three working days and according to the law, the
penalty amount should not be posted in such notification or citation. The positing can only be
removed after the removal of that potential hazard. Further, the organization may arrange an
informal conference however, it is not mandatory. The organization is free to arrange this
conference, if it believes that the organization did not violated a norm of the Occupational Health
and Safety norms (Friend & Kohn, 2014). The written letter regarding the intent of contest
should be submitted to area director within 15 days of receiving the notice. The organization has
the full right to contest the notification. However, there is a process to do the same. After

2OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
generation of the order or notification, there is a frame of 25 days to write a letter to the area
director about contest of the citation.
Available options and contacts
There are instances where the notification is faulty and contains mistakes that need to be
corrected. In such case, the organization should send a letter reading the issue within 10 calendar
days. If the board deciding the violation and penalties understand the concern and decides the
penalty is vague and non-justified, then the penalty is imposed and abatement verification starts.
This verification includes all documentation and ethical proves that can identify the vague
notification and penalizing. Finally, if the workplace receives declaring the workplace as unsafe
for work and failed to abate the violation, then the best way to avoid the OSHA penalty is by
raining the employees and are aware of the dangers or hazards that can occur in the work area. A
dedicated safety professional should be appointed in the company to ensure safety of workers in
the workplace (Reese, 2015).
Documentation of necessary responses
Documentation of necessary responses are very important, as these are the only available
evidences for any action taken by the OSHA or by the company. Documentation of letters
containing contest of notification, letter from the area director regarding the removal of potential
hazard from the site of accident and other need to be presented while judgment so that the
penalty can be removed. All the settlement of the contested cases are negotiable as the attorney
decides the removal of penalty depending upon the proofs provided to him.

3OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
References
Friend, M. A., & Kohn, J. P. (2014). Fundamentals of occupational safety and health. Bernan
Press. https://books.google.co.in/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=14HyAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=citation+and+notification+of+
penalty+USA+occupational+health+and+safety&ots=f0_QUtrgVT&sig=HGHxyxhw8zE
a-WYhJ-dY4gIxrgM#v=onepage&q=citation%20and%20notification%20of%20penalty
%20USA%20occupational%20health%20and%20safety&f=false
Reese, C. D. (2015). Occupational health and safety management: a practical approach. CRC
press. https://books.google.co.in/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=2Oj5CQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=citation+and+notification+of+
penalty+USA+occupational+health+and+safety&ots=PByxq2TTNn&sig=OjU-
Ql9qwTyQyfmnWhboPUCIATM#v=onepage&q=citation%20and%20notification%20of
%20penalty%20USA%20occupational%20health%20and%20safety&f=false
United States Department of Labor. (2017). OSHA Content Document. Osha.gov. Retrieved 29
November 2017, from https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?
p_table=OSHACT&p_id=3371