Employers have the responsibility to provide a safe workplace. Employers MUST provide their employees with a workplace that does not have serious hazards and follow all relevant OSHA safety and health standards. Employers must comply with specific standards. All employers in the construction industry must also have injury and illness prevention programs. Contractors and employers who do construction work must comply with standards in 29CFR1926. SubpartC, General Safety and Health Provisions, as well as other specific sections of these standards, include the responsibilities for each...

OSHA Publication 2236 Materials Handling and Storing discusses the handling and storing of materials in the workplace. Handling and storing materials involve diverse operations such as hoisting tons of steel with a crane; driving a truck loaded with concrete blocks; carrying bags or materials manually; and stacking palletized bricks or other materials such as drums, barrels, kegs, and lumber. The efficient handling and storing of materials are vital to industry. In addition to raw materials, these operations provide a continuous flow of parts and assemblies through the workplace and ensure...

OSHA Publication 3000-09R, Employer Rights and Responsibilities, contains important information regarding employer rights and responsibilities following a Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act), as amended. Under the OSH Act, employers have the responsibility to provide a safe workplace. An OSHA compliance safety and health officer (CSHO) conducts an inspection of your workplace, in accordance with the OSH Act. After the inspection, the CSHO reports the findings to the OSHA area director who...

OSHA Publication 3071. Job Hazard Analysis discusses job hazards and job hazard analysis in the workplace. This book is for employers, foreman, and supervisors, but encourages employees to use the information as well to analyze their own jobs and recognize workplace hazards so they can report them. It explains what a job hazard is and offers guidelines to help you conduct your own step-by-step analysis. A hazard is a potential for harm. In practical terms, a hazard often is associated with a condition or activity that, if left uncontrolled, can result in a n injury or illness. Identifying...

OSHA Publication 3074, Hearing Conservation, summarizes the required component of OSHA's hearing conservation program for general industry. It covers monitoring, audiometric testing, hearing protectors, training, and recordkeeping requirements. Noise, or unwanted sound, is one of the most pervasive occupational health problems. It is a by-product of many industrial processes. Sound consists of pressure changes in a medium (usually air), caused by vibration or turbulence. These pressure changes produce waves emanating away from the turbulent or vibrating source. Exposure to high levels of...

OSHA Publication 3080, Hand and Power Tools, is designed to present to employees and employers a summary of the basic safety procedures and safeguards associated with hand and portable power tools. Material in this booklet is based on the standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administrations; this booklet, however, should not be considered as a substitute for the full safety and health standards for general industry (published in Title 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR, Part 1910, Subpart P), or for the construction industry (published in 29 CFR Part 1926, Subpart I). These are...

OSHA Publication 3325-01N, Ethylene Oxide (EtO): Understanding OSHA's Exposure Monitoring Requirements, provides information to help employers understand how to monitor the quality of the air in workplaces where ethylene oxide (EtO) is processed, used, or handled. Air monitoring is an important activity that can help alert employers when unsafe levels of EtO are present in the air so that they can take steps to reduce employee exposure. EtO can be used more safely if appropriate precautions are taken and if equipment is adequately designed and maintained This document: clarifies the different...

The past few summers have shown that the risk of heat illness from high temperatures is one of the most serious challenges to the safety and health of workers. The Heat Illness Prevention Training Guide will help you plan how to prevent heat illness among your crew and provide training to your workers. The training guide includes the following tools for the supervisor or crew leader to use: Complete instructions for teaching workers about heat hazards and additional resources. Why is it important to prevent heat illness? Heat illness can be a matter of life and death. Workers die from heat...

This document describes the best practices for the safe use of gluteraldehyde in health care facilities. It is widely used as a cold sterilant to disinfect a variety of heat-sensitive instruments such as endoscopes, bronchoscopes and dialysis equipment. In addition, health care employee may be exposed to gluteraldehyde in it uses as a hardener in x-ray developing and as a tissue fixative in histology and pathology labs. This document describes engineering controls, work practices, and facility design considerations that will help reduce employee exposure. It also provides recommendations for...

OSHA 3328-05R. A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. A flu pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges for which people have little or no immunity, and for which there is no vaccine. The disease spreads easily person-to-person, causes serious illness, and can sweep across the country and around the world in a very short time. It is difficult to predict when the next influenza pandemic will occur or how severe it will be. Wherever and whenever a pandemic starts, everyone around the world is at risk. Countries might, through measures such as border closures and travel restrictions,...