Manufacturer Employer Responsibilities under OSHA

Manufacturer Employer Responsibilities under OSHA

Occupational Safety & Health Administration

With the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for workers by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance. Employers in the manufacturing industry must pay special attention to OSHA requirements and ensure compliance.

OSHA imposes the following responsibilities on employers:

Provide a workplace free from serious recognized hazards and comply with standards, rules and regulations issued under the OSH Act.
Examine workplace conditions to make sure they conform to applicable OSHA standards.
Make sure employees have and use safe tools and equipment and properly maintain this equipment.
Use color codes, posters, labels or signs to warn employees of potential hazards.
Establish or update operating procedures and communicate them so that employees follow safety and health requirements.
Provide safety training in a language and vocabulary workers can understand.
Employers with hazardous chemicals in the workplace must develop and implement a written hazard communication program and train employees on the hazards they are exposed to and proper precautions (and a copy of safety data sheets must be readily available).
Provide medical examinations and training when required by OSHA standards
Display, at a prominent location within the workplace, the OSHA poster (or the state-plan equivalent) informing employees of their rights and responsibilities.
Report to the nearest OSHA office all work-related fatalities within 8 hours, and all work-related inpatient hospitalizations, all amputations and all losses of an eye within 24 hours.
Keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses.
Provide employees, former employees and their representatives access to the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses.
Provide access to employee medical records and exposure records to employees or their authorized representatives.
Provide to the OSHA compliance officer the names of authorized employee representatives who may be asked to accompany the compliance officer during an inspection.
Not discriminate against employees who exercise their rights under the Act.
Post OSHA citations at or near the work area involved. Each citation must remain posted until the violation has been corrected, or for three working days, whichever is longer. Post abatement verification documents or tags.
Correct cited violations by the deadline set in the OSHA citation and submit required abatement verification documentation.

In addition, OSHA encourages all employers to adopt an Injury and Illness Prevention Program. These programs, known by a variety of names, are universal interventions that can substantially reduce the number and severity of workplace injuries and alleviate the associated financial burdens on U.S. workplaces. Many states also have requirements or voluntary guidelines for workplace Injury and Illness Prevention Programs.

ENDS Attorney Gregory G. Brown

The e-cig/e-liquid attorneys at Brown & Charbonneau, LLP are up to date on all of the relevant issues affecting the industry, including OSHA and other manufacturing and human resources issues, and are prepared to assist you. To learn more, call us today at 714.406.4397, or e-mail inquiries@bc-llp.com to set up a consultation. For more information about the e-cigarette, e-liquid and ENDS industry, please click here [insert link to http://bc-llp.com/e-cigarette-e-liquid-ends-practice/]