Employer Responsibilities
Employers have the responsibility to provide a safe workplace.
Workers' Rights
Employers MUST provide their employees with a workplace that does not have serious hazards and must follow all OSHA safety and health standards.
Employers must find and correct safety and health problems. OSHA further requires that employers must try to eliminate or reduce hazards first by making feasible changes in working conditions - switching to safer chemicals, enclosing processes to trap harmful fumes, or using ventilation systems to clean the air are examples of effective ways to get rid of or minimize risks - rather than just relying on personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves, or earplugs. Employers must also:
- Prominently display the official OSHA poster that describes rights and responsibilities under the OSH Act. This poster is free and can be downloaded here.
- Inform workers about hazards through training, labels, alarms, color-coded systems, chemical information sheets and other methods.
- Train workers in a language and vocabulary they can understand.
- Keep accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses.
- Perform tests in the workplace, such as air sampling, required by some OSHA standards.
- Provide hearing exams or other medical tests required by OSHA standards.
- Post OSHA citations and injury and illness data where workers can see them.
- Notify OSHA within 8 hours of a workplace fatality or within 24 hours of any work-related inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye.
- Not retaliate against workers for using their rights under the law, including their right to report a work-related injury or illness.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
4-2. How quickly must an employer notify OSHA in the event of a fatal workplace accident?
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