Cream of the Crop 1/Cream of the Crop 1.iso/BUSINESS/SBA62.ARJ/FSBA.EXE/F249.SBE

Text File | 1992-04-30 | 8KB | 162 lines

@110 CHAP 5

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

           "If you're going to sin, sin against God, not
            the bureaucracy.  God will forgive you, but the
            bureaucracy won't."  -- Admiral Hyman G. Rickover


As noted elsewhere in this program, employers are required by state law
in most states to carry workers' compensation insurance for the protec-
tion 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 techical regula-
tions.  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.

    . NOTICES TO EMPLOYEES.  OSHA requires that you post a permanent
      notice to employees regarding safety on the job, plus a second
      official poster about the rights of employees who are punished
      by an employer for objecting to 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 the 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 follow-
      ing 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 require-
      ments, and treats any employer with 10 or fewer employees during
      the previous year as a "small employer."  However, the require-
      ments of keeping a log and reporting fatalities and multiple
      injuries are not exempted.

      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
         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 five or more employees, an employer must
         notify the area director of OSHA within 48 hours, describing
         the circumstances of the accident, the extent of any injuries,
         and the number of fatalities.  There are penalties in the
         event you fail to give notice as required.

@CODE: CA
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 dupli-
      cate 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 occu-
      pational 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, required a relatively complex written safety plan
to have been adopted and been in operation by July 1, 1991 for ALL em-
ployers 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
Some states also have a OSHA-type agency which enforces similar, or
in some cases, even more restrictive, health and safety rules.