Final answer:
A business owner can be held responsible for an employee's negligence due to the principle of vicarious liability, which applies to both permanent and temporary workers. OSHA enforces the responsibility of ensuring a safe work environment on all employers, including providing information about potential hazards. Failure to comply with health and safety regulations can result in legal and financial repercussions for the business.
Step-by-step explanation:
A business owner may indeed be held responsible for the negligence of employees. This is due to the legal doctrine known as 'vicarious liability', which holds an employer accountable for the actions of its employees performed in the course of their employment. Temporary workers are not exempt from this, as staffing agencies and host employers have joint accountability over temporary workers.
Furthermore, businesses, especially those not incorporated, face unlimited liability, meaning the owner could be personally responsible for debts and obligations of the company. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandates that employers, both the host and temporary employers in the case of temporary workers, must ensure a safe work environment and are jointly responsible for any violations. Additionally, businesses are obliged to provide a safe workplace by finding and correcting safety and health problems and informing workers about chemical hazards.
However, employees also have rights, including lodging confidential complaints against their employer, which could lead to an investigation and correction of violations. The burden of ensuring a non-discriminatory, safe, and healthy work environment that complies with all regulations ultimately falls on the employer, failing which they could face legal and financial consequences.