Occupational Health and Safety Act: Amendments and Their Implications

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970, focusing on the Alberta context. It begins by outlining the Act's origin and the issues it was designed to address, as well as the recent amendments and their effective dates. The report then details the scope of the Act, specifying who is covered (employers, supervisors, workers, suppliers, etc.) and excluded. The purpose and overview section clarifies the Act's goal of reducing workplace hazards and ensuring a safe environment. The report also highlights two major amendments, including increased penalties for employers and the establishment of new offenses, and analyzes the pros and cons of these amendments from both employee and employer perspectives, offering a balanced view of their implications. The report is based on research and analysis of the Act's provisions and related literature.

Running head: EMPLOYMENT LAW
Employment Law
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Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1970
1. Origin – The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is considered to be a labor law
of the United States that covers or governs federal law of safety and occupational health
inside the private sector. The Congress enacted the above-mentioned act in the year 1970.
The major issues for the Act to establish were to provide protection to the workers associated
with the undertaking from the hazards of safety and health. It generally determined the
procedures as to how the hazards of the workplace can be dealt. The recent came into force
when the Work Safe Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 amended the Occupational Health
and Safety Act 2004. The penalties have also been amended that had an effect on the
employers.
2. Scope
 The Act of Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 cover all the employer,
supervisor, workers, employees who are engaged with the workplace. Along with the
above-mentioned individuals, it also covers suppliers, owners, constructors of the
workplaces. The essential scope of this Act is to provide safety and save the workers
from the hazards involved. Therefore, it majorly covers all the employees in the 50
state of Alberta. Particularly, it covers specific ones who are associated with the base
of military (Kim, Park & Park, 2016). The Act of Occupational Safety and Health Act
of 1970 also have a separate program for the employees of the federal government. As
an employee, it is important to be safe at the workplace.
 The Act of Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 do not cover or include those
individuals who are engaged with any industry or an undertaking in the state of
Alberta. This Act will however not cover any non-worker.

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3. Purpose and Overview of the Act
 The basic purpose of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is to decrease
the hazards present at the workplace and implement necessary and health and safety
programs for both the employees and the employers. It is considered to be as the
federal law, which makes sure that the workplaces of Alberta have a safe
environment.
 Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 consists of a few essential matters. The
primary and significant objective of this act is to provide protection to other
individuals from risks to their safety (Connolly Jr & Crowell, 2017). Secondly, it must
secure the workers engaged and the self-employed individuals from all kinds of risk
arising out of the workplace activities. These are the responsibilities of the Act.
 The Ministry of Labor enforces the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The
strategy is to protect the safety and health of the workers (Holt & Allen, 2015). In this
regard, it is noteworthy to mention here that the Ministry of labor had enforced the
above-mentioned act and dealt with the rules and regulations.
4. Two major amendments of Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
 The first major amendment of Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is that the
section of penalties for the employers has increased. This refers to a situation when a
worker fails to notify the Victorian Work Cover Authority of the incident or does not
succeed in preserving the site of the incident that occurred. Secondly, a new offence
has been established if any individual contravenes an enforceable undertaking that
have been given by the person (Lay et al., 2016). Such individuals will be penalized
with either 500 units or 2500 units.

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 The reason or the purpose of the amendment was to make all the workers aware of all
the necessary safety rules and regulations that will protect them in the undertaking
from being injured or hurt (Friend & Kohn, 2018). The Authority will also be aware
of situations if any problem arises at the workplace.
 As per the perspective of an employee, the amendments made in Occupational Safety
and Health Act of 1970 will be beneficial for the employees as it deals with their
safety issues. It also included the Dangerous Goods Act, 1985 that will help the
workers from being safe. It is important for the employees to receive assurance of
their health and safety issues.
 The recently made amendments of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
can also act as demerits from an employer’s point of view. Due to an employee’s
negligent behavior, the employer can be penalized with either 500 or 2500 units.

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References:
Coenen, P., Gilson, N., Healy, G. N., Dunstan, D. W., & Straker, L. M. (2017). A qualitative
review of existing national and international occupational safety and health policies
relating to occupational sedentary behaviour. Applied ergonomics, 60, 320-333.
Connolly Jr, W. B., & Crowell, D. R. (2017). A Practical Guide to the Occupational Safety
and Health Act. Law Journal Press.
Friend, M. A., & Kohn, J. P. (2018). Fundamentals of occupational safety and health.
Rowman & Littlefield.
Holt, A. S. J., & Allen, J. (2015). Principles of health and safety at work. Routledge.
Kim, Y., Park, J., & Park, M. (2016). Creating a culture of prevention in occupational safety
and health practice. Safety and health at work, 7(2), 89-96.
Lay, A. M., Saunders, R., Lifshen, M., Breslin, C., LaMontagne, A., Tompa, E., & Smith, P.
(2016). Individual, occupational, and workplace correlates of occupational health and
safety vulnerability in a sample of Canadian workers. American journal of industrial
medicine, 59(2), 119-128.