f Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) General Duty Clause.

Provide a comprehensive overview of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) General Duty Clause. Your response is to include (a) the intended purpose of the clause; (b) the elements required for its use by an OSHA compliance officer; and (c) your personal opinion on the use of the clause by compliance officers.

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

ANSWER

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

The general duty clause requires that employers need to provide a safe working environment without any recognized hazards. A work environment is required to be without recognized hazards that can probably cause or are already causing physical harm to the employees. Violence in the workplace is considered hazard in the healthcare industry, and thus employers are required to prevent that from happening (CDC, 2020). The purpose of the general duty clause is to make sure that employers provide a safe working environment for their employees. It also protects employees from being abused at work and creates a culture of safety at the workplace.

The OSHA compliance officer has to prove that the employer did not protect his employees from hazards by not making his workplace free of hazards hence exposing them. (CDC, 2020). The employer also has to be aware of the hazard and recognize it. For the employer to be cited with a violation, the hazard has to be one that can probably cause or is already causing severe physical harm. The officer also has to prove that there was a useful and feasible method to stop or prevent the hazard.

In my opinion, the general duty clause is an excellent way to ensure that employers who do not provide a safe work environment are held accountable for putting their employees in danger. However, the clause says that there must be proof that the employer was aware of the hazards and failed to correct them. This can be hard to prove. However, the clause is fair as it ensures that employees are protected and that employers are not judged unfairly.

References

CDC. (2020). OSHA’s General Duty Clause. https://wwwn.cdc.gov/WPVHC/Nurses/Course/Slide/Unit5_4