Final answer:
OSHA mandates accessible exits, safety education, and compliance with protective gear. Workers must be aware of the locations of safety equipment like fire extinguishers and eyewash stations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets forth various standards to ensure a safe working environment across many industries. Among the basic requirements are those related to exit routes. An exit route must be permanent, unobstructed, and clearly marked; it must lead to a safe area away from the workplace; and it must have adequate lighting.
In terms of specific standards, OSHA requires employers to implement safety measures such as providing fall protection, preventing trenching cave-ins, reducing exposure to infectious diseases, ensuring the safety of workers in confined spaces, guarding machinery, offering personal protective equipment, and facilitating safety training in a language workers can comprehend. Additionally, the General Duty Clause requires employers to maintain a workplace free from serious recognized hazards, addressing any potential dangers that lack a specific standard.
To further safeguard workers' health and safety, employers have several responsibilities laid out by OSHA. These include instructing workers on chemical hazards, maintaining safety records, conducting workplace tests, providing personal protective equipment at no cost, conducting medical tests when necessary, displaying OSHA citations and yearly injury and illness summaries, and promptly reporting fatalities and severe injuries to OSHA.
In laboratories and similar settings, employers must also ensure that workers are aware of the location of safety equipment like fire extinguishers and eyewash stations.