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@110 CHAP 5

        ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
        │ OSHA -- EMPLOYEE SAFETY AND HEALTH REGULATION │
        └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘

As noted elsewhere in this program, employers are required
by state law in most states to carry workers' compensation
insurance for the protection of employees who develop
job-related illnesses or who are injured on the job.  There
are also comprehensive and far-reaching federal laws that
set safety standards designed to prevent injuries that could
arise out of unsafe or unhealthy working conditions.  The
main federal law regulating employee job safety is the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA).  The
Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued
reams of regulations and standards for workplace safety
that employers are somehow supposed to understand and obey.
This program will not try to summarize those thousands of
pages of technical regulations.  Instead, the following
is a summary of the highlights of some of the formal
requirements and exemptions you should be aware of as a
small business owner under OSHA.

  . NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES.  OSHA requires that you post a
    permanent notice to employees regarding safety on the
    job.  In some cases, you may be required to post a
    second official poster about the rights of employees
    who are punished by an employer for objecting to the
    existence of unsafe working conditions.

  . RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS.  Under OSHA, it is necessary
    to keep a log of industrial injuries and illnesses.
    The Federal OSHA Form 200 can be used to satisfy this
    requirement.  At the end of each year, the information
    in the log must be summarized and posted prominently in
    your workplace from February 1 to March 1.  This
    requirement was eliminated a few years ago for most
    retail, financial, insurance, and service firms, but
    not for the following types of firms:

     .  Building material and garden supply stores
     .  Food stores
     .  General merchandise stores
     .  Hotels and other lodging places
     .  Repair, amusement and recreation services
     .  Health services

    Under OSHA, a Supplementary Record must be prepared
    after a recordable injury or illness occurs, using
    federal Form 101 or any of the substitutes permitted to
    be used for this purpose under @STATE law.

    Neither of the above recordkeeping forms are ordinarily
    filed with the government.  Instead, these records must
    be retained and kept available for inspection for five
    years.  Note that the recordkeeping requirements have
    TEETH in them, in the way of potential heavy fines.  A
    recent newspaper article reported that a major U.S.
    company, a meat packing company, had been assessed
    proposed fines of over $2 million by OSHA for various
    alleged OSHA recordkeeping violations.

  . EXEMPTION FROM RECORDKEEPING.  The federal act exempts
    small employers from most of the reporting and
    recordkeeping requirements, and treats any employer
    with 10 or fewer employees during the previous year as
    a "small employer."  (@NAME has @EMP employees.)

    However, the requirements of keeping a log and reporting
    fatalities and multiple injuries are not exempted,
    regardless of the number of employees.

  . REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.  Federal OSHA reporting
    requirements include the following:

     .  The Bureau of Labor Statistics may require certain
        selected employers (including "small employers")
        to report certain kinds of summary information on
        job-related injuries and illnesses annually on
        the "Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Survey"
        form.

     .  In the event of a fatality or an accident resulting
        in the hospitalization of three or more employees,
        an employer must notify the area director of OSHA
        within 8 hours, describing the circumstances of the
        accident, the extent of any injuries, and the number
        of fatalities, and giving the name and telephone
        number of a contact person.  There are severe
        penalties in the event you fail to give notice as
        required.


NEW OSHA HAZARD ASSESSMENT REGULATIONS
======================================

Most small business owners tend to groan and say "Oh...
shoot!" when they hear the term "OSHA," which is the
acronym for the federal Occupational Safety and Health
Administration.  That's because OSHA and its state
counterparts in 25 states and territories are the government
agencies that enforce the thousands of pages of complex
job safety and health regulations in the workplace, and
because many small employers find it very costly and
difficult to stay abreast of this multitude of safety rules
and procedures that they must adopt and observe for their
employees, under OSHA.

For years, OSHA regulations have spelled out a number
of requirements regarding the required use of personal
protective equipment ("PPE") by their employees.  PPE
includes such equipment as safety helmets, special safety
goggles, gloves, protective face shields, and other
such items that must be worn by employees for their own
protection against physical hazards they might encounter
on the job.  These regulations apply primarily to industrial
workers, but not exclusively so, since many workers in, for
example, wholesale and retail firms may also be exposed to
danger when working on loading docks, in warehouses, and
similar situations where special protective gear (such as
safety shoes) is needed to prevent injuries.

Thus most small firms are not likely to rejoice when they
learn of this latest, complex set of new regulations issued
by OSHA, published in the Federal Register on April 6, 1994,
and effective for PPE that is purchased after July 5, 1994.

While the new regulation largely updates existing standards
regarding protection of a worker's head, eyes, face, and
feet, it expands coverage to include hand protection.  In
addition, PPE that is purchased after July 5, 1994 must
generally meet standards for safety equipment that have
been adopted by the independent American National Standards
Institute ("ANSI").  The ANSI standards have been
incorporated by reference into the regulations.

However, the main new thrust of this regulation is to
require all employers to perform an assessment to identify
hazards that would necessitate the use of personal protective
equipment by their workers.  If such hazards are determined
to be present, or likely to be present, the employer must:

   . Select, and have each affected employee use,
     the types of PPE that will protect the affected
     employee from the hazards identified in the hazard
     assessment;

   . Communicate the selection decisions to each
     affected employee; and

   . Select protective gear that properly fits each
     affected employee.

The regulation also requires that an employer verify that
the workplace hazard assessment has been performed through
a written certification that identifies:

   . The workplace that was evaluated;

   . The person certifying that the evaluation has
     been performed; and

   . The date of the hazard assessment.

In addition, the certification must identify the document
as a certification of hazard assessment, and it must be
available for OSHA inspectors.

Employers must also train employees as to the proper use
of the protective gear and put the training requirements
in certified (written) form.  This involves teaching each
affected employee when PPE is necessary; what type of PPE
is needed; how to don, doff, adjust, and wear PPE; the
limitations of the gear; and the proper care, maintenance,
useful life and disposal of the PPE.

Employers, take heed.  As with most OSHA regulations, this
one has teeth -- employers who fail to comply with the new
regulation can be fined up to $70,000 for each willful
violation, so these are not rules any employer can simply
shrug off, or "put on the back burner."

For many firms that are already adequately utilizing PPE
for their employees, the new regulation may amount to
nothing more than unwanted additional paperwork.  However,
the safety agency expects that the hazard review process
will result in much wider use of PPE and with it, prevention
of a great many workplace injuries.  According to OSHA
estimates, implementation of the new rules will prevent
four workplace fatalities and 712,000 lost workdays
annually due to injuries, as well as 65,000 "non-lost
workday" injuries.

OSHA officials estimate that under the new standards,
there are some 11.7 million workers in 1.1 million work
sites who should be wearing some form of protective gear.
Thus, a very broad range of companies are covered by the
new requirements.

How, if at all, will this new regulation affect your
business?  For more information, consult your attorney or,
at a minimum, contact your local OSHA (or state OSHA
equivalent) office, or OSHA's General Industry Compliance
Assistance Office, at [phone].  You can also send
for a free copy of the Personal Protective Equipment rules
(a reprint of the regulation, with official commentary, as
printed in the Federal Register), by calling the OSHA
Publications Office at [phone] or by faxing your
request to the latter at [phone].


NEW OSHA PUBLICATION FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
-----------------------------------------

OSHA issued an updated "OSHA Handbook for Small Businesses"
in 1993.  It includes a self-inspection checklist and
an in-depth employee training section on OSHA's new
blood-borne pathogen safety regulations.

The above booklet is available for $4 from the Government
Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, or by calling
[phone].  (FAX orders:  [phone].)

The booklet's order number is 029-016-001-441.

@CODE: CA
CALIFORNIA HEALTH AND SAFETY REQUIREMENTS
-----------------------------------------

California has its own OSHA-type agency, called CAL/OSHA.
CAL/OSHA essentially takes over the federal OSHA functions
within the state, for the most part.  CAL/OSHA's reporting
and recordkeeping requirements generally dovetail with the
federal OSHA rules, and you can even use the federal OSHA
forms in lieu of the CAL/OSHA forms.

Other CAL/OSHA requirements include:

  . If any occupational injury or illness in California
    results in lost work time beyond the day of injury
    or in medical treatment other than first aid, you
    must report it in duplicate within 5 days to your
    insurance carrier on Form 5020 (or on the carrier's
    own form).  The copy of this completed form will
    constitute your supplementary record that is required
    for recordkeeping purposes.

  . In case of death or severe injury to an employee from
    an occupational injury or illness, you must immediately
    report it by phone or telegram to the nearest district
    office of the California Division of Industrial Safety.

  . Employers in the construction business must obtain
    special CAL/OSHA permits if erecting or demolishing
    a structure over three stories high or doing excavations
    five feet or deeper, in which a person is required to
    descend.

SAFETY PLAN REQUIRED.  Senate Bill (S.B.) 198, a California
law which was enacted in 1989, requires a relatively complex
written safety plan to have been adopted and been in
operation by July 1, 1991 for ALL employers in California,
regardless of size.  Among other requirements, the company
safety plan must:

      . Identify a person or people responsible for
        implementing the plan;

      . Identify and evaluate workplace hazards and
        provide for periodic inspections to identify
        unsafe conditions and work practices;

      . Detail the employer's methods and procedures
        for correcting unsafe or unhealthy conditions
        and work practices;

      . Implement an occupational health and safety
        program designed to instruct employees in
        generally safe and healthy work practices;

      . Establish procedures to communicate with
        employees on health and safety matters;

      . Encourage employees to inform the employer
        of hazards at the worksite without fear of
        reprisal; and

      . Have a system to ensure that employees
        comply with safe and healthy work practices.

Employers without a written plan and someone to conduct
training and maintain the plan can be assessed a penalty
of up to $1000 (or $2000 if the violation is "of a
serious nature").

For help in getting into compliance with this law, order a
copy of the SB 198 HANDBOOK from the California Chamber of
Commerce for $52 (25% discount for members).  Write to:

        California Chamber of Commerce
        Attention:  Mark Mason
        P.O. Box 1736
        Sacramento, CA 95812-1736

        Or call, toll-free, 1-800-331-8877

@CODE:EN
STATE HEALTH AND SAFETY RULES
-----------------------------

Some 23 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands also
have a OSHA-type agency which enforces similar, or in
some cases, even more restrictive, health and safety
rules.

@CODE: AK AZ CA HI IN IA KY MD MI MN NV NM NC SC OR TN UT VT VA WA WY
@STATE is one of the states with its own OSHA-type
health and safety agency.
@CODE:OF
@CODE: CT NY
@STATE has its own OSHA-type plan, but only for
employees of the state and local governments.  It relies on
federal OSHA to enforce job safety standards in the private
sector.
@CODE:OF
@CODE: AL AR CO DE DC FL GA ID IL KS LA ME MA MS MO MT NB NH NJ ND OH OK PA RI SD TX WV WS
However, most states do not, and instead rely on federal
OSHA to administer health and safety requirements within
the state, as in the case of @STATE.
@CODE:OF