@110 CHAP 5 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � OSHA -- EMPLOYEE SAFETY AND HEALTH REGULATION � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� @Q "If you're going to sin, sin against God, not the @Q bureaucracy. God will forgive you, but the bur- @Q eaucracy 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 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 require- ments 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 neces- sary to keep a log of industrial injuries and illnesses. The Federal OSHA Form 200 can be used to satisfy the re- quirement. 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 re- quirement was eliminated a few years ago for most re- tail, 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 af- ter a recordable injury or illness occurs, using feder- al 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 pro- posed fines of over $2 million by OSHA for various al- leged OSHA recordkeeping violations. . EXEMPTION FROM RECORDKEEPING. The federal act exempts small employers from most of the reporting and record- keeping 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 report- ing fatalities and multiple injuries are not exempted, regardless of the number of employees. . REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. Federal OSHA reporting require- ments include the following: . The Bureau of Labor Statistics may require cer- tain selected employers (including "small employ- ers") 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 re- sulting in the hospitalization of five or more employees, an employer must notify the area di- rector 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 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 immediate- ly report it by phone or telegram to the nearest dis- trict 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 excava- tions five feet or deeper, in which a person is re- quired to descend. SAFETY PLAN REQUIRED. Senate Bill (S.B.) 198, a California law which was enacted in 1989, required a relatively com- plex 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 Some states also have a OSHA-type agency which enforces similar, or in some cases, even more restrictive, health and safety rules.