Chapter 5 Overview

Although the Health and Safety at work etc. Act 1974 provides criminal legislation for employers, there are various key health and safety requirements that identify a duty of care owed to an employee by an employer, that have been set via precedents. This essay aims to identify the key health and safety requirements owed by an employer to an employee, deriving from common law, including the principle of vicarious liability

In addition, Williams violated 29 C.F.R. § 1926.651(k) (1) for failing to designate a “competent person” with sufficient training and knowledge to identify and correct existing and predictable hazards (www.dol.gov). No supervisor at the Company was familiar with the basic standards applicable to the worksite or otherwise “capable of identifying and correcting existing and predictable hazards in their surroundings.” The court disagreed that the Company discharged its OSHA duties merely by relying on the general work experience of Dzamba and J.P. Williams or “common sense.”

Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 : it established federal standards in the construction of refuse piles and dams by coal companies but these standards only protected the coal miners (and not the public who lived around the coal mines) while he was working.

Specific health problems associated with the workplace have contributed to the development of Particular health issues connected with the work environment have added to the advancement of the cutting edge safety and health development. These issues incorporate lung infections in diggers, mercury harming, and lung tumor attached to asbestos. Occupational and Environmental Health Professionals have an above normal extent of all day employments. For Occupational and Environmental Health Professionals working all day, normal week by week hours are 42.3 and profit are high - in the ninth decile. Unemployment for Health Professionals is underneath normal. H&S Professionals have an expansive extent of specialists amongst individuals in the 25-34 age section, making it an energetic and dynamic workplace. The unavoidable consequence of the expanded consideration given to safety and health is that bigger organizations are utilizing safety and health professionals and all organizations big or small are relegating these obligations to existing representatives.

It is unavailing for Williams to argue that employees must take greater care to avoid placing themselves in harm's way or that management can “expect an employee not [to] intentionally place himself in danger, because such a claim misconstrues the purpose of the OSHA safety standards. In turn, Williams’ argument was not effective due to the fact that it is the responsibility of the foreman and/or owner of the construction to provide training to any new hire or reassigned employee working on the site. OSHA also provided testimony and/or proof from there investigation that employees were not being trained before they began working on the site. It is the responsibility of any employer to ensure that all employees have been provided company safety manuals and OSHA regulations, as well as training sessions to make sure they are knowledgeable of the information. The company demonstrated negligence when a supervisor testified that the safety manual was behind the seat of his truck and he never referred to it to make sure they followed safety protocol. Therefore, the fines should not have been decreased from $91,000 to $22,000 nor

-In West Africa, there was much anticipation for the Portuguese. When thePortuguese did come they did so peacefully, and obtained permission

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), often referred to as the "OSH Act," was enacted in 1970 by President Richard M. Nixon. Its purpose is to assure safe and healthful working conditions for men and women (EPA, 2006). The Act is administered and enforced at the national level by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a division of the US Department of Labor. The application of the OSH Act in the current employment climate will be discussed as it applies to a variety of industries; considerations that are most applicable to the specific type of industry will be discussed initially, and those that are equally important regardless of the type of business will complete the section. Finally, this paper will discuss how the

Background and Jurisdiction: AAA Mine Service Inc. is a contractor for Carter Roag Coal Company performing welding, and mechanical work on the underground mining equipment in the Pleasant Hill Mine. Carter Roag Coal is a Corporation registered in the Commonwealth of West Virginia. Mining services are conducted at the Pleasant Hill Mine with the object of Mineral production and falls under the jurisdiction of Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) (Exhibit

It is alarming to know that each year there are over 4,500 scaffold injuries and 65 deaths (Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA], 2016). In addition, there is a high risk for construction workers to be struck from objects falling off scaffolds. With these facts in mind, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission’s (OSHRC) 2013 case of the Secretary of Labor v Performance Contracting, Inc. (PCI) raises questions as to why violations of OSHA’s scaffold standards are sometimes considered “other-than serious.” Understanding that OSHA gives the Secretary of Labor the tasks of rulemaking and enforcement of its rules, it also gives the task of carrying out the legal process to the commission which both parties accepted, as well as PCI “engaging as a business affecting interstate commerce” (Secretary of Labor v. PCI, 2013, pp. 2-3). Knowledge of the case’s background, parties involved, arguments presented, cases used to reach a verdict, and final ruling provide insight to the penalties assessed, significance, and personal opinion.

Water contamination is the next major concern of environmental groups. The Environmental Protection Agency, the governmental regulatory agency created in 1970 to manage the enforcement of environmental policy, states its concerns in a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2009 (United). Specifically addressing mines in West Virginia and Kentucky, the EPA expressed serious concerns over water pollution from strip mining (“EPA”). The rupture of an ash dike at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, TN on December 22, 2008 granted credibility to the EPA’s concerns. In an article published by in Environmental Health Perspectives, Rhitu Chatterjee comments on the poisonous substances contained in ash produced from processing coal, listing

According to the Bureau of Labor, statistics indicate that more than 4.1 million people were hurt or injured on-the-job in 2006 and 5,488 were killed in 2007 (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010, p. 511). Laws and regulatory requirements are currently in place to standardize and promote workplace safety. Organizations with extensive safety programs have reduced number of accidents, decreased workers’ compensation claims and lawsuits and lesser accident-related expenditures (Gomez-Mejia, et al, 2010, p. 511). This paper discusses the effects of legal, safety and regulatory requirements in

On December 3, 2014, Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) Inspector Matthew Stone inspected the Warrior Coal LLC, Cardinal mine. Stone traveled to the # 2 unit (002-0 and 004-0 Mechanized Mining Unit) (MMU) to conduct checks on the dust control parameters.

Today, OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program enforces the whistleblower provisions of more then twenty-two whistleblower statutes protecting employees who report violations of various workplace safety and health, airline, commercial motor carrier, environmental, consumer product, food safety, financial reform, motor vehicle safety, health insurance reform, railroad, nuclear, pipeline, maritime, public transportation agency, and securities laws ("Whistleblower Protection Program", 2017).

To maintain expected business practices, governments enact regulations through legislation as a means of ensuring that businesses operate within expected guidelines. Some regulations are proactive, such as Bill 198 (Better known as CSOX, the Canadian version of the Sarbanes and Oxley Act) which places additional expectations on the reporting and auditing of company financials (PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2004). Other regulations are reactive; such as bill C45 that passed after the Westray mine disaster took the lives of 26 workers. This regulation looks to hold company executives personally liable for ignoring safety protocols and conducting behavior with criminal intent in the workplace (Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety, 2014). Regardless of their founding, regulations can impose stiff penalties upon companies that choose not to place focus on implementing the necessary controls in place to ensure compliance to them.

Asbestos is defined as a fiber that includes six different types of minerals; chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite, and actinolite. “Chrysotile is the main form of asbestos used in about 95 percent of the world” (Ramazzini). All forms of asbestos are known carcinogens which pose severe consequences if exposed. Exposure to asbestos consequently causes mesothelioma, lung, and even ovarian cancer. It is typically acknowledged for its heat resistance and insulating properties. Asbestos is found in common products such as fire-proof vests, plaster, cement, brake pads for home and commercial construction, siding, and many more materials. The primary concern of asbestos in mines is the inhalation potential of airborne fibers. Mining is defined as the process or industry of obtaining coal or other minerals from a mine. Asbestos plays a critical toxin involved in the mining field. It is essential to be aware of the regulations, precautions, elimination and control of the toxin. MSHA covers the mining field thoroughly by providing better regulations, standards, and enforcing the mining field. In order to comply entirely with mining, MSHA is the administration developed for mining particularly. Although they do follow some of OSHA’s regulations as well as revising them, they are the governing body. “Asbestos exposure of miners can derive from either naturally occurring asbestos in the ore, host rock, or from asbestos contained in certain