Workplace Safety Paper
Name
Institution
Course
Instructor
Date
Workplace Safety Paper
Every workplace has safety and health risks that both employers and employees must be wary of and mitigate at all costs. Various moves and laws have been proposed and implemented to enhance workplace safety and health. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is one of such laws enacted for the same purpose. Understating the relevance and applicability of OSHA in different situations may be a little confusing. This paper is based on a scenario of a fight between two employees of SC Corporation, Mike and Sean. It discusses how OSHA is or is not relevant to this case and the rights of the employers.
The Main Purpose of OSHA Regarding Employees
According to the United States Department of Labor (2022), OSHA was created to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for workers by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance. If workers have a safety concern at a workplace, they complain to OSHA to listen to it and address it appropriately. OSHA continuously reviews workplace safety and alerts employees and employers in case of a new threat or health risk. As such, it works to ensure that the work environment is generally safe for all employees to protect them from preventable injuries and death (American Safety Council, Inc., 2022).
Why this scenario is recordable under OSHA
OSHA discourages workplace violence and has laid an Enforcement Procedures and Scheduling for Occupational Exposure to Workplace Violence to investigate and prevent such incidences (United States Department of Labor, 2022a). A fight like the one between Mike and Sean can lead to hazardous consequences, including physical injuries and death. Having such safety risks within a workplace makes this scenario a subject of OSHA. Besides, SC Corporation can use OSHA guidelines to investigate and address the case.
Why this scenario is not recordable under OSHA
The fight between Mike and Sean seems to be a conflict or a vendetta between the two individuals. It is not a safety risk for the whole organization or other employees. The two can even settle their scores elsewhere outside the company. Such attributes may make the case not a subject to OSHA because OSHA tends not to address personal and individual vendetta but looks at how a company as a whole can ensure the safety and health of all employees. SC Corporation might be exonerated from this case if it is OSHA compliant and charge both Mike and Sean under some other laws.
Employer’s Rights and Responsibilities Under OSHA
During the investigations into this case, the employer has the right to negotiate the scope of the inspection. The right to informal conference and settlement enables the company to negotiate the terms and nature of the inspection (Conn,2022). They can seek to know the reasons justifying an OSHA involvement and justification. Similarly, SC Corporation has the right to direct some proceedings of the investigation, including the document collection procedure and the terms for physical access to the facility (Conn,2022).
Compliance with OSHA is necessary for all organizations to ensure a safe and healthy work environment for all workers. However, companies must understand these provisions to determine the ones that are pertinent to the various scenarios they face. For instance, in the case provided of an altercation between Sean and Mike, an employer must understand where to employ OSHA and where not to because it is for both. Safety and health risks are complex though they must be mitigated as much as possible.
References
United States Department of Labor. (2022). OSHA. https://www.osha.gov/aboutosha
American Safety Council, Inc. (2022). Top 10 OSHA Violations of 2020. OSHA Education Center. https://www.oshaeducationcenter.com/articles/top-10-osha-violations/
United States Department of Labor. (2022a). Workplace Violence. OSHA. https://www.osha.gov/workplace-violence/enforcement
Conn, E. (2022). Know Your OSHA Inspection Rights. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/risk-management/pages/osha-employer-inspection-rights.aspx