Final answer:
If faced with unresolved safety hazards at work, an employee should exercise their rights under OSHA by reporting the issue. They can request an OSHA inspection without retaliation and should refuse unsafe tasks. For New York, reinforcing OSHA regulations and increasing safety education and inspections are key for future worker safety.
Step-by-step explanation:
When the owner and co-workers do not want to fix safety hazards, it is important to remember the rights and responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Employers are required to provide a safe workplace and correct safety and health problems, prioritizing the elimination or reduction of hazards over personal protective equipment.
Workers should inform themselves about chemical hazards, and have the right to receive training and clear information about these hazards within the workplace.
Furthermore, if there is a serious hazard or the employer is not following OSHA standards, workers or their representatives can file a complaint to request an OSHA inspection without fear of discrimination or employer retaliation.
This allows employees to maintain anonymity while ensuring that safety concerns are appropriately handled by the authorities.
Moreover, employees should not undertake tasks they believe to be unsafe and have the right to speak up about any concerns they may have regarding safety.
If these steps are not effective, one recommendation for the state of New York to ensure worker safety in the future is to reinforce OSHA regulations, provide additional support for educational programs related to workplace safety, and increase the frequency of independent inspections to ensure that all companies adhere to established safety standards.