Health and Safety in the Workplace in the United States

AutorThomas C. Kohler
CargoConcurrent Professor of Law and Philosophy. Boston College Law School (Newton, MA, U.S.A.)
Páginas153-156
IUSLabor 2/2015
135
HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE IN THE UNITED STATES
Thomas C. Kohler
Concurrent Professor of Law and Philosophy
Boston College Law School (Newton, MA, U.S.A.)
1. Does the regulation on health and safety in the workplace in your country
establish the employer’s obligation to prevent occupational hazards? If the answer
is positive, what prevention obligations does your country’s regulation on health
and safety in the workplace establish?
This is a very difficult question to which to give a concise answer. The primary health
and safety statute in the United States is the Occupation Safety and Health Act of 1970,
29 U.S.C. ch. 15. , Section 651 et seq. In the Act’s preamble, Congress declared that the
statute intended “to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the
Nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preser ve our human resources.”
The structure of the Act is complex. It establishes the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, to oversee enforcement of
the statute. It also establishes a fully independent Agency, the Occupational Safety and
Health Review Commission, which has authority to review appeals of decisions made
by under the structure of the Act, and to set enforcement priorities, etc. The Act also
established the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which is
part of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a branch of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
The key provisions regarding an employer’s duty under the Act is contained in § 654 of
the Act, which provides as follows:
(a) Each employer
(1) Shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of
employment which is free from recognized hazards that are causing or
likely to cause death or serious physical hare to his employees;
(2) Shall comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated
under this Act.
(b) Each employee shall comply with occupational safety and health standards
and all rules, regulations and orders issued pursuant to this Act which are
applicable to his own actions and conduct.

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