Legal and Regulatory Aspects of Safety
The regulatory frame
- OSH Act (1970). The General Duty Clause, §5(a)(1), requires a workplace free of recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Three elements must all be present: employer recognition, likelihood of death or serious harm, and a feasible means of abatement. Questions frequently omit feasibility.
- §5(a)(2) requires compliance with specific OSHA standards.
- Recordkeeping (29 CFR 1904). A case is recordable when it is work-related, is a new case, and meets a criterion: death, days away, restricted work or transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or significant injury diagnosed by a physician.
- Reporting timelines. Fatality within 8 hours; in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours.
- Employee rights. Protection from retaliation under §11(c), the right to request an inspection, to accompany the inspector, to access exposure and medical records, and a narrow right to refuse imminently dangerous work.
- Inspection priorities: imminent danger, fatality or catastrophe, complaint or referral, programmed inspection, follow-up.
Traps. Treating ANSI, NFPA, or ISO consensus standards as law when they bind only if incorporated by reference. Confusing state-plan requirements - a state plan must be at least as effective as federal, not identical. And the multi-employer policy can reach creating, exposing, correcting, and controlling employers.
Worked example. A worker sprains an ankle, misses three days, then returns on light duty. The case is recordable: days away, then restricted-duty days, both entered on the OSHA 300 log.