UPI Study › Courses › Human Resources Management › Free lessons › Lesson 9.16 Free with a free account
OSHA: The Law That Keeps Workplaces Safe
Human Resources Management · Chapter 9: Major U.S. Employment Laws Every HR Professional Must KnowSection 9.16 · lesson 68 of 9116 min · free with a free account
Free preview
Create a free account to keep watching
It takes a minute and costs nothing. Your free account unlocks all of Chapter 1 and 3 more lessons of Human Resources Management.
Lesson complete
Earn the 3 college credits for Human Resources Management
Enrolling adds a quiz after each lesson, the graded work and the official transcript. Recommended for credit by NCCRS.
Next lesson: The WARN Act: Giving Workers Notice Before Layoffs →← The Affordable Care Act and How It Affects HR DecisionsNext lesson: The WARN Act: Giving Workers Notice Before Layoffs →
In this lesson
Recognized hazards, reliable controls, accurate records, and protected reporting.
- Explain specific standards and the general duty clause.
- Apply the control hierarchy, recordkeeping, and severe-event reporting rules.
- Protect participation rights and evaluate safety incentives using actual evidence.
Free study notes
Get this lesson's notes by email
The key points and 4 practice questions with answers, in your inbox. One email, free.
One email. Unsubscribe in one click.
Transcript
Everything said in the video, section by section (1,907 words). Read along, or search it.
Major U.S. Employment Laws Every HR Professional Must Know
OSHA: The Law That Keeps Workplaces Safe
The Occupational Safety and Health Act created OSHA, to set and enforce workplace safety requirements. Most private employment is covered, through federal jurisdiction or an approved state plan. Employers must comply with applicable standards, and address recognized serious hazards under the general duty clause. A workplace's small size does not generally excuse, compliance with its applicable safety requirements. The control hierarchy helps reduce exposure, through stronger protections than repeated reliance on individual behavior. Training must be understandable, including relevant language and vocabulary for the workers receiving it. Routine records and urgent agency reports serve different purposes, with distinct criteria and deadlines. Inspections include participation rights, followed by citations and a defined opportunity to contest. Employees can raise concerns without retaliation, and may refuse dangerous work only under narrow conditions. A fictional bonus scheme illustrates possible underreporting, rather than proving that lower recorded injuries mean safer work. We connect prevention and legal duties, with truthful records and timely action on identified hazards.
COVERAGE AND 2 EMPLOYER DUTIES
Applicable Standards and Recognized Serious Hazards Both Matter
OSHA covers most private employers and workers, federally or through an approved state program. Approved state plans must be at least as effective, and can impose more protective requirements. State and local government coverage depends on the relevant system, rather than ordinary federal private-sector coverage. Self-employed workers, certain farm-family employment, and other-agency hazard jurisdiction require distinct coverage analysis. Specific standards address recurring risks, such as machinery, falls, electrical work, respiratory protection, and confined spaces. Hazard communication also requires appropriate information and training, concerning chemicals employees encounter. The general duty clause addresses qualifying recognized serious hazards, where no specific applicable standard governs. An absence of a matching specific rule cannot alone answer, whether that separate duty applies. Routine recordkeeping exemptions can depend on size or industry, but are not general exemptions from safety duties. Covered severe-event reporting remains required, even where routine logs are not ordinarily maintained. Identify jurisdiction and applicable rules at each site, rather than assuming one policy satisfies every state.
GENERAL DUTY CLAUSE
A Citation Requires a Hazard, Exposure, Recognition, Seriousness, and Feasible Correction
OSHA identifies four elements, for proving a general duty clause violation. First, the employer failed to keep the workplace free of a hazard, exposing its own employees. Second, the hazard was recognized, through the applicable evidence rather than the inspector's personal preference. Third, it caused or was likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Fourth, a feasible and useful means existed, to correct the hazard. Employee exposure is part of the test, rather than an optional detail in the analysis. Recognition can involve the employer or industry, with the relevant evidence and circumstances examined. Serious consequences and feasible correction also need support, instead of automatic inference from an unpleasant condition. A specific applicable standard governs its covered condition, rather than general duty substituting for that standard. Compliance with unrelated standards does not resolve, a different qualifying hazard outside their coverage. Describe the actual condition and exposure, then evaluate each required element using credible evidence.
HIERARCHY OF CONTROLS AND 8 CLASSIFICATIONS
Prefer Controls That Reduce Dependence on Repeated Individual Action
Elimination removes the hazard, such as redesigning work so nobody needs to work at height. Substitution uses a safer alternative, such as replacing a hazardous solvent with a water-based option. Review the substitute's new risks too, rather than assuming that every different material is safer. Engineering controls physically reduce exposure, illustrated by a fixed shaft guard and local exhaust ventilation. They reduce reliance on memory, but still need effective design, maintenance, and verification. Administrative controls change work practices, such as limiting tool exposure time or implementing confined-space permits. Those controls depend on consistent application, with appropriate procedures and training. Cut-resistant gloves and hearing protection are protective equipment, worn correctly by the individual worker. PPE can be necessary alongside other controls, or while stronger protections are being implemented. The hierarchy does not justify leaving workers unprotected, until a redesign is complete. Cost depends on the actual process, and elimination can be economical when designed into new work.
4 HAZARD COMPARISONS
Match the Control to the Actual Exposure and Verify It Works
An unguarded nip point calls for effective guarding or safe redesign, using qualified safety assessment. A reminder alone leaves access to the mechanism, and gloves do not provide equivalent isolation. For airborne cutting dust, assess generation reduction and effective capture or ventilation. Training alone does not remove exposure, so verify the selected controls against the actual hazard. A wet beverage-station floor requires controlling spills or leaks, and appropriate surface or drainage arrangements. A warning sign can support temporary precautions, but does not eliminate the persistent slip hazard. Heavy-component handling may need task redesign or suitable equipment, reducing the physical handling requirement. Instructions alone cannot make the original handling demand disappear, even when workers understand them. Training must use language and vocabulary employees understand, rather than relying on an unreadable signed attendance record. Chemical hazard communication includes the applicable written program, labels, accessible safety data sheets, and employee training. Verify controls with qualified expertise and worker feedback, rather than claiming that a generic checklist proves effectiveness.
ROUTINE RECORDKEEPING
A Log Entry Is Determined by Criteria, Not by How Minor an Incident Seems
Required routine records distinguish the injury log, individual incident information, and annual summary. OSHA forms or permitted equivalents support those tasks, subject to applicable exemptions and submission requirements. Recordability depends on work relationship and criteria, rather than how minor the incident seemed to a supervisor. Relevant outcomes include death, days away, restricted work or transfer, and treatment beyond first aid. Loss of consciousness is another criterion, with significant professionally diagnosed cases also requiring analysis. First aid has a defined regulatory meaning, rather than whatever a manager calls informal treatment. The location or provider alone cannot settle classification, and an award target cannot change the criteria. Review and correct the annual log, then prepare and certify the required summary. Required posting runs from February first through April thirtieth, of the following year. Record access, privacy cases, retention, and electronic submissions also require their applicable rules. Recording an incident differs from urgent agency reporting, so complete each responsibility that actually applies.
SEVERE-EVENT REPORTING
Check Both the Event Window and the Reporting Deadline
Federal severe-event reporting separates, the event's timing from the deadline to notify OSHA. A qualifying work-related fatality must occur within thirty days, of the work-related incident. Report it within eight hours of the event, subject to the delayed-knowledge provisions. Qualifying in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss must occur within twenty-four hours, of the incident. Report those events within twenty-four hours, subject to the corresponding learning rules. If employer or agent learns later about the event, the applicable deadline runs from that knowledge. Delayed discovery of work relationship also has a learning rule, requiring accurate facts about who knew when. Emergency-room treatment alone is not qualifying in-patient admission, and observation-only admission is excluded. Certain transport incidents have reporting exceptions, while required log entries remain a separate question. State-plan requirements can differ, so identify the governing reporting system and approved channels. Routine-log exemptions do not remove covered severe-report duties, making prompt internal escalation essential.
INSPECTION PROCESS
Employer and Authorized Worker Representatives Have Participation Rights
Inspections can arise from imminent danger, severe events, complaints, referrals, or programmed enforcement priorities. The opening conference explains purpose and scope, along with relevant procedures for the inspection. The walkaround examines conditions, with an opportunity for authorized employer and employee representatives to aid it. Worker participation is a right under applicable rules, rather than an optional management courtesy. OSHA resolves representation questions, and can apply safeguards for orderly inspection and protected information. Private interviews and records review can also contribute, to the inspector's fact-finding. The closing conference discusses apparent violations, possible correction, and relevant next steps. It does not itself establish every final citation or penalty, before the agency reviews the findings. A later citation identifies alleged violations, proposed penalties, and required correction dates. Track receipt, posting, abatement, and any available contest, using accurate records and responsible legal review. Maintain worker protection throughout the process, rather than treating inspection participation as a substitute for correcting hazards.
CITATIONS AND EMPLOYER RIGHTS
A Timely Written Contest Must Identify the Items Being Disputed
A citation is an allegation with legal consequences, rather than automatically a final adjudicated violation. It identifies the relevant duty, proposed penalty, and abatement date for correction. Required posting continues even if disputed, so do not remove the notice when pursuing review. A federal written contest generally has fifteen working days, after receipt of the citation. Weekends and federal holidays are excluded, rather than treating that period as fifteen calendar days. An informal conference does not extend the contest period, or replace a required written notice. Identify the items and matters disputed, with truthful evidence and appropriate specialist advice. A proper contest affects contested matters, while unchallenged items remain subject to their requirements. A penalty-only disagreement is not blanket permission, to stop correcting every cited hazard. Other-than-serious, serious, willful, repeated, and failure-to-abate classifications have different conditions, with current indexed maxima requiring verification. Continue protecting workers and track finality, rather than inventing missing amounts or ignoring an enforceable correction date.
EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND NON-RETALIATION
Protected Reporting and Narrow Work Refusal Require Accurate Explanation
Employees may report concerns, request inspections, participate, and provide protected testimony. They also have applicable rights of access, to injury records and their own exposure or medical information. Privacy rules still matter, so access does not mean unrestricted disclosure of everyone else's records. Protected refusal of dangerous work is narrow, rather than a general option to decline uncomfortable duties. The worker must genuinely believe imminent danger exists, and a reasonable person must recognize serious danger. Urgency must leave insufficient time for correction, through ordinary enforcement channels. Where possible, the worker asks the employer to eliminate the danger, and correction does not occur. Seek correction or another assignment and explain the unsafe task, following the applicable guidance. Federal retaliation complaints generally require filing within thirty days, of the alleged prohibited action. Other applicable protections can differ, so explain which law and deadline actually govern. A protected report can support retaliation analysis independently, though protected activity and causal evidence still must be established.
FICTIONAL FABRICATION-SITE CASE
Lower Recorded Injuries and Vanishing Near Misses Need Investigation
The fictional fabrication site ties supervisor bonuses, to each shift's number of recordable injuries. Recorded injuries fall roughly by half over two quarters, and management calls the scheme successful. Hannah observes similar first aid use, while near-miss reports nearly disappear. That combination is consistent with suppressed reporting, but does not conclusively prove unchanged actual injury rates. Review actual incidents, recordability decisions, and award consequences, while checking other credible information. Informal discouragement can distort records, even without an explicit instruction to conceal an injury. Missing information also leaves hazards unidentified, and can interfere with compensation administration or protected reporting. OSHA does not automatically prohibit every rate-based incentive, when adequate precautions protect reporting freedom. Hannah recommends recognition for reports, hazard correction, and inspection participation, with visible follow-up. Improved reporting may increase recorded injuries, so explain that possibility rather than promise a fixed future increase. The trade-off is losing a celebrated number, in exchange for more trustworthy evidence and useful prevention activity.
REVERSE GENERAL-DUTY CASE AND RECAP
No Specific Standard Does Not Resolve an Uncovered Serious Hazard
The reverse employer argues that it met specific standards, despite an injury involving an uncovered hazard. That argument does not resolve the general duty clause, when its separate requirements are satisfied. Identify the actual hazard and exposed employees, rather than treating the injury alone as complete proof. Establish recognition, serious potential harm, and feasible useful correction, using the relevant evidence. Those four elements explain why unrelated standards compliance, is not a complete defense to this allegation. Protect employees and preserve records, while specialist review assesses the citation and response deadlines. Define recognized hazard and hazard communication, connecting the terms with concrete workplace responsibilities. Distinguish engineering from administrative controls, then assess recordability and the abatement date accurately. Near-miss reporting supplies useful warning information, when workers can report freely and see action follow. Specific standards, general duty, routine logs, urgent reports, and retaliation protections must each be applied correctly. Next, we examine advance notice, when certain large closures or employment losses affect many workers.
About Human Resources Management at UPI Study
Human Resources Management (Business 306) is a self-paced online course of 91 video lessons in 12 chapters, from what HR does and how jobs are designed to hiring, training, performance reviews, pay and benefits, safety, employment law, unions, global staffing and remote work. It carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits.
Every lesson transcript is free on pages like this one, and the videos are free with a free UPI Study account. Enrolling adds a practice quiz after each lesson, the graded work and final exam that earn the credit, lifetime access, and an official transcript on completion. UPI Study has helped over 130,000 students with college credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
Enroll now → Course details Download the syllabus All Business courses
Why take it here
Why students take Human Resources Management with UPI Study
Where the credit goes
Universities that work with NCCRS
Human Resources Management carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
Thomas Edison State UniversitySigned partner
University of the PeopleSigned partner
Charter Oak State CollegeSigned partner
Strayer UniversitySigned partner
Columbia Southern UniversitySigned partner
Indiana TechSigned partner
Penn StateWorks with NCCRS
Southern New Hampshire UniversityWorks with NCCRS
SUNYWorks with NCCRS
+many more cooperating universitiesFind my college →Find my college → Not listed? Ask Athena in the corner of this page, or book a 15-minute call.
FAQ
Questions students ask us
About OSHA: The Law That Keeps Workplaces Safe
What is the OSHA general duty clause?
What is the hierarchy of controls in workplace safety?
When must an employer report a workplace injury to OSHA?
Can a worker refuse to do dangerous work under OSHA?
About the Human Resources Management course
How many college credits is Human Resources Management?
How much does Human Resources Management cost and what is included?
Which universities accept UPI Study credits?
How long does Human Resources Management take?
How are the exams done?
How do my credits reach my college?
Ready for the full course? Earn 3 credits in Human Resources Management.
91 video lessons, a quiz after each one, and the graded work that earns the credit. Recommended for credit by NCCRS.
3 credits · NCCRSEnroll →