Introduction
According to the basic principles of OSHA, an employer must record accidents that lead to death, loss of consciousness, absence for several days, restriction of work activity, job transfer, and more comprehensive medical treatment. One should assume that the cases of Joe Johns, Mike Davis, and Joe Marn are recordable (see Appendix A). It is known that Joe Johns died due to interaction with an electrical current, the restriction of labor activity affected Mike Davis, and Joe Marn was absent from work for more than one day. Kelly Smith and Sue Martin went to work the next day, and Justin Lu continued to work and, like Sue Martin, received medical treatment as part of first aid.
The Purpose of the OSH Act and Promulgation of the OSHA Standards
The primary purpose of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act is to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for employed citizens. The OSH Act means establishing and enforcing protection standards at both the federal and state levels (Seminario, 2020). This Act defines the principal regulations regarding the implementation of the right of employees to protect their life and health in the course of work, as well as to proper, safe, and healthy working conditions. With the participation of the authorities, the OSH Act regulates the relationship between an employer and an employee on issues of safety, occupational health, and working conditions.
It is no secret that promoting safe, healthy, and protected workplaces is one of the US government’s strategic goals in the labor field. Based on this moment, the OSHA standards were promulgated on December 29, 1970, when the 37th President of the United States of America, Richard Nixon, signed the Williams-Steiger OSH Act (MacLaury, n.d.). Since then, the Federal Government has had the right to implement health and safety norms, rules, and standards for many workers. At the same time, each state has laws and local executive bodies in occupational safety. Together with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, they issue regulations concerning restrictions on the use of harmful materials, impose requirements for water supply, ventilation of industrial premises, storage of industrial wastes, and more.
The Requirements of the OSHA Recordkeeping Regulation
The OSHA Recordkeeping Regulation requires that an employer electronically provide information about all incidents and force majeure in a workplace. All accidents resulting in death, absence from the workplace, or hospitalization of an employee should be reported. A company must keep records for at least five years, and every year employers publish a summary of injuries and illnesses registered for the previous year. OSHA imposes strict requirements for maintaining documentation to track the history of diseases and injuries and prevent them in the future.
An Example
Amazon’s failure to correctly register work-related ailments is an example where OSHA cited a company for a record-keeping violation. On December 16, 2022, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported breaches of Amazon’s workflow based on inspections at six warehouses in five states (Smith, 2022). OSHA has identified 14 types of record-keeping violations and “skyrocketing” injuries at the organization (Smith, 2022). The Amazon case clearly demonstrates a negligent attitude to the law on occupational safety and security at the workplace.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the OSH Act, created in 1970 by Richard Nixon, was developed to ensure workplace safety and protect employees from unscrupulous employers. According to the principles and concepts of this act, an employer must report all accidents with subordinates strictly. OSHA imposes strict documentation requirements to avoid risks and unforeseen consequences at work. Amazon is one example of a company that has repeatedly violated OSHA requirements.
References
MacLaury, J. (n.d.). The job safety law of 1970: Its passage was perilous. U.S. Department of Labor. Web.
Seminario, M. M. (2020). The Occupational Safety and Health Act at 50—a labor perspective. American Journal of Public Health, 110(5), 642-643. Web.
Smith, A. (2022). OSHA finds Amazon failed to record and report worker injuries. SHRM. Web.
Appendix A
