Employment Law and Labor Relations: OSHA and Worker Protection Report

This report examines the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970, focusing on its purpose to prevent workplace accidents and protect workers. It details the Act's mandates on employers to provide training and support, especially in environments with dangerous substances. The report outlines the rights and responsibilities of both employers and employees under OSHA, including employer duties to maintain safety standards and inform workers of hazards, as well as employee rights to refuse unsafe work conditions. The report references key literature to support its analysis, emphasizing the importance of OSHA in ensuring occupational safety and health management within the workplace, ensuring a safe and healthy environment for all employees, and preventing workplace injuries and fatalities through the enforcement of regulations and promoting best practices. This analysis is crucial for understanding the legal framework that governs workplace safety and the balance of power between employers and employees.

Running head: EMPLOYMENT LAW & LABOR RELATIONS
EMPLOYMENT LAW & LABOR RELATIONS
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1EMPLOYMENT LAW & LABOR RELATIONS
The Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1970 (OSHA) was created with the
intention to prevent and protect workers from accidental death or harm at the workplace. The
main purpose of this Act is to create occupational safety and health management focusing on
the environment of those workplaces which deals with the production of dangerous products
or substance. This Act further imposes mandates on the employer of a risky business to give
their workers necessary training and support about the handling machines or equipment with
which they have to deal every day.
Under the OSHA, an employer has a duty to protect workers belongs from the private
sector, State and Federal Government Workers. However, an employer does not have any
duty to protect immediate family members of their workers or workers who are already
protected by any other Federal Agency (Lewis, 2016).
Every employer has rights and responsibilities guaranteed under the OSHA. The
rights of an employer as envisaged in the Act are such as to give the employee instructions on
the health and safety standard while on duty and which each employee is bound to follow.
The employer has further right to compel the employee to do a job which they are authorized
to do as per the instruction of the employer. Further, an employer has the right to prevent the
employee from engaging in any unnecessary activities which might hamper the peaceful
environment of the workplace. The employer also had the right to get informed about the
injury or harm that might have caused to any of his employees during working hours. The
employer also has the right to instruct the employee about the use of any equipment or cloth
associated with the work they are doing (Brooks, Keyt & London, 2017).
Further, employer have certain responsibilities to maintain towards their workers such
as; maintain adequate standard of safety as envisaged in the OSHA regarding equipment and
other safety instruments necessary for working of the workers, to inform the workers about

2EMPLOYMENT LAW & LABOR RELATIONS
the potential hazard through the use of posters, placards, logos in the workplace, keep
updating new methods of working and also make the worker knowledgeable about the same
and further inform the OSHA office in case of an accident happened to any of the worker.
One of the special duty of the employer is to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled
workers which further includes making necessary facilities available, allowing flexible work
timings and also placing the worker in a capable position in the company (Janicak & Cekada,
2016).
However, under the OSHA, an employee has a right to refuse to work under the
circumstances such as; where the employee feels the employer failed to comply with the
safety standard as per OSHA guidelines if the worker believes in good faith or on a prudent
believe about the existence of the danger during the work. However, if the worker believes
that there exist sufficient danger in the workplace which might cause harm to their life, then
they can ask to conduct an inspection regarding the same under the OSHA (Walters &
Quinlan, 2019).
Therefore, it can be concluded that OSHA is an important Act which thrives on
ensuring the rights regarding occupational safety and health management of the employee in
the workplace.

3EMPLOYMENT LAW & LABOR RELATIONS
Reference:
Brooks, E. L., Keyt, B., & London, I. (2017). Chemical Hazard Communication: What US
Employers Need to Know about Globally Harmonized System Standards. Natural
Resources & Environment, 32(1), 43.
Janicak, C. A., & Cekada, T. L. (2016, January). OSHA’s Enforcement of the General Duty
Clause: An Investigation into Citations. In ASSE Professional Development
Conference and Exposition. American Society of Safety Engineers.
Lewis, R. K. (2016). Radon in the Workplace: the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) Ionizing Radiation Standard. Health physics, 111(4), 374-
380.
Walters, D., & Quinlan, M. (2019). Representing workers on occupational safety and health:
some lessons from a largely ignored history. Industrial Relations Journal, 50(4), 399-
414.