General Duty Clause.OSHA

In addition to the General Duty Clause, OSHA has promulgated many more detailed requirements for worker safety. Many of the detailed requirements are included in the published OSHA regulations and Federal law 29CFR 1910. In addition to the regulations, OSHA publishes voluntary guidelines and instruction suggestions to help employers provide a safer work environment. Both federal... 

These guidelines address patient and healthcare staff testing, source control methods, decontamination techniques, and prevention of tuberculosis-contaminated air. This enforcement policy refers to CDC guidelines and the OSHA general duty clause. OSHA conducts inspections in response to complaints and during routine compliance visits in the following workplaces ... 

As noted above, in using the General Duty Clause, OSHA references the manufacturer s guidelines as well as industry/ANSI standards. 

Numerous other OSHA regulations apply to the chemical industry in general, but are not specific to reactive hazards. Where no specific OSHA standards apply, the OSHA General Duty Clause (GDC Section 5(a)(1) of the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act) creates a legal obligation for an employer to address a known hazard, including a reactive hazard. 

The General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970 states that "Each employer. shall furnish to each of his employees, employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees ... More specifically, Section (e)(3) of 29 CFR 1910.119 states that process hazard analysis shall address facility siting. OSHA has recognized and pointed out the... 

In its NEP, OSHA points out that for workplaces not covered by 1910.272, but where combustible dust hazards exist within dust control systems or other containers, citations under section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act (the General Duty Clause) may generally be issued for deflagration (fire) or explosion hazards. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards should be consulted to obtain evidence of hazard recognition and feasible abatement methods. Other standards are applicable to the combustible dust hazard. For example, if the workplace has a Class II location, then citations under 29 CFR 1910.307 may be issued to those employers having electrical equipment not meeting the standard s requirements. 

The statute covers all employers and their employees in all the states and federal territories, with certain exceptions. Generally, the statute does not cover self-employed persons, farms employing solely family members, and those workplaces covered under other federal statutes. Refiners must evaluate whether the chemicals they manufacture and sell are hazardous. Under the General Duty Clause of OSHA, employers are required to provide an environment that is free from recognized hazards that could cause physical harm or death. 

Congress intended tluit OSHA be enforced tlu ough specific standards ill an effort to achieve a safe and healthful working enviromnent. A general duty clause was added to attempt to cover those obvious situations tliat were admitted by all concerned but for which no specific standard existed. The OSHA standards are an extensive compilation of regulations, some tliat apply to all employers (such as eye and face protection) and some tliat apply to workers who engaged in a specific type of work (such as welding or crane operation). 

It is important to note that, as with all of the requirements consolidated in this document, those associated with the acquisition of all classes of chemicals are consistent with OSHA s general duty clause which requires employers to protect their employees from all recognized hazards in the workplace. 

The purpose of the OSHA Proposed Safety and Health Program Rule (see website http //www.osha-slc.gov/SLTC/safetyhetilth/nshp.html) is to reduce the number of job-related fatalities, illnesses, and injuries by requiring employers to establish a workplace safety and health program to ensure compliance with OSHA sttmdards and the General Duty Clause of the OSHAct. All employers covered... 

Under the act, anployers have a general duty to provide work and a woikplace free from recognized hazards. Citations may be issued by OSHA when violations of standards are found and for violations of the general duty clause, even if no OSHA standard applies to the particular hazard. The employer also must display in a prominent place the official OSHA poster that describes rights and responsibilities under OSHA s law. 

Both the OSHA and EPA statutes contain General Duty Clauses that can be used to cover situations not explicitly identified by the regulations, but which nevertheless, in the judgment of the agency, fall within its purview. The General Duty Clause can only be applied if the agency can demonstrate that the citation involved is a recognized hazard and that the hazard could cause death or serious physical harm. 

One application of the General Duty clause with respect to process safety occurred following a serious accident in April 1995 at a plant in Lodi, NJ. None of the chemicals involved in the accident were on the OSHA list of highly hazardous materials. OSHA s citations, therefore, were based on the General Duty clause. (Since then, the chemicals involved in that accident have been incorporated into the standard.)... 

OSHA has also prepared a list of covered chemicals (provided in Appendix A of the regulation). If a company has one or more of these chemicals on site in quantities greater than the amount specified, then it is required to develop a PSM program. Even if a chemical is not on the list, an accident involving it can still lead to a PSM citation under the General Duty clause, as discussed earlier. 

The general duty clause of the OSHA Act requires that employers provide a workplace free from hazards likely to harm employees. This clause is important because it applies when there is no specific OSHA standard for a given situation. This clause can be used when a hostile environment exists, such a worker threatening another worker. Where OSHA standards do exist, employers are required to comply with them as written. It is the responsibility of employers to become familiar with standards applicable to their businesses. Table 19-1 lists the ten most frequently cited standards. 

One in six violent crimes in the United States occurs at work. Death and injury from workplace assaults can be cited under the OSHA Act of 1970, which obligates the employer to address workplace violence under the General Duty Clause, which states that employers shall furnish their employees employment and place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that can cause or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to their employees. Most workplace incidents of violence are caused by stress that causes a worker to react with uncontrolled rage. 

Enforcement pertaining to ergonomic hazards through application of the general duty clause in the OSHA Act (Section 5(a)(1))... 

In the OSHA Guidelines, one purpose of which was to assist employers in fulfilling their responsibilities under the general duty clause, this is the sort of language used ... 

Other Sources — The General Duty Clause, foimd in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, has become increasingly important to employers in the last few years as OSHA has begun to utilize the clause in more and more of its penalty and enforcement actions. Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 requires that every working man and woman must be provided with a safe and healthful workplace. The section, more commonly known as the General Duty Clause, specifically states ... 

---