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Employee Rights and Responsibilities
Employee Responsibilities
As an employee, you should:
- Read the OSHA poster at your job site.
- Comply with any applicable OSHA Standards.
- Follow all of the state and your department’s safety and health standards and
rules.
- Wear or use prescribed protective equipment.
- Report hazardous conditions to your supervisor.
- Report any job related injuries or illnesses to your supervisor and seek treatment promptly.
- Cooperate with the Bureau of Labor Standards compliance officer conducting an inspection if he inquires about conditions at your joist.
- Use your rights under the Act responsibly.
Employee Rights
As an employee, you may:
- Obtain a copy of the OSHA standards, and other rules, regulations and requirements from your department, the nearest OSHA office or the Government Printing Office.
- Request information from your supervisor on the safety and health hazards in your work area, on precautions you need to take and on what you must do if you are involved in an accident or exposed to hazardous substances.
- Accompany the Bureau of Labor Standards compliance officer during the inspection walk-around if designated by your union.
- Observe the monitoring or measuring of hazardous materials, including the right of access to records on those materials, as specified in state and OSHA regulations.
- Submit a written request to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for information on whether any substance in your workplace has potentially toxic effects in the concentration being used, and have your name withheld from your department if you so desire.
- Request the Bureau or Labor Standards, in writing, to conduct an inspection if you believe a hazardous condition exists in your workplace. You must be specific and name the hazard that concerns you. (You should, however, first make a good faith effort to have your department correct the condition.)
- Have your name withheld from your department, upon your request to the Bureau of Labor Standards, if you file a complaint.
- Be advised of Bureau of Labor Standards actions regarding your complaint and have an informal review, if you request it, of any decision not to make an inspection.
- File a complaint with the Bureau of Labor Standards within 30 days if you believe you have been discriminated against because you asserted a right under the OSHAct and be notified by the Bureau of Labor Standards of its decision within 90 days of your filing.
- Object to the abatement period fixed in the citation issued to your department by appealing to the Occupational Health and Safety Review Board.
- Be notified by your department if it applies for a variance (waiver) from the Bureau of Labor Standards for an OSHA standard, testify at a variance hearing and appeal the final decision.
- Submit information or comment to OSHA on the issuance, modification or revocation of OSHA standards and request a public hearing.
