Final answer:
Employers have health and safety responsibilities that include training, providing personal protective equipment, keeping records of injuries, and more, all to comply with OSHA standards and ensure a safe work environment.
Step-by-step explanation:
Employers are mandated by law to provide a safe workplace and to comply with all Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) health and safety standards. Health and safety responsibilities assigned by employers can include a variety of strategies to minimize hazards, such as substituting dangerous chemicals with safer alternatives, implementing engineering controls like ventilation systems to maintain clean air, and providing personal protective equipment (PPE). Furthermore, employers must engage in other critical activities such as:
- Training workers about health and safety, including chemical hazards, in a language and vocabulary they can understand.
- Keeping accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses.
- Conducting workplace environment tests, like air sampling.
- Supplying essential PPE at no cost to workers.
- Conducting required medical tests, such as hearing exams.
- Displaying OSHA citations and injury and illness summary data.
- Notifying OSHA about severe workplace incidents like fatalities or hospitalizations.
- Posting the official OSHA Job Safety and Health poster that outlines the rights and responsibilities under the OSH Act.
These responsibilities, while integral to ensuring a safe work environment, can sometimes conflict with other workplace responsibilities such as maintaining productivity levels or following a specific process instructed by a manager.