The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently introduced a new workplace poster for informing workers of their rights to a safe workplace. The posters are free and may be downloaded from the OSHA Web site.
“Making sure workers are safe on the job is a top priority of the Department of Labor, and OSHA’s new poster is another way we do that,” Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman said. “Re-designed as part of President Clinton’s and Vice President Gore’s plain language initiative, it gives workers and employers information they need to make sure their workplace is a safe workplace.” OSHA is part of the Labor Department.
Employers are not obliged to replace the posters they already have, but they are required to post an OSHA notice of employee rights in a prominent location. In keeping with the goals of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government, the new poster tells workers in plain language that they have the right to a safe workplace, how they may file a complaint, report an emergency, or seek OSHA advice, and that they have a right to confidentiality.
To get copies of the poster: download from the Web site at http://www.osha.gov.oshpubs/poster.html write the OSHA publications office, Room N3101, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20210; or call any OSHA office, usually listed under Federal Government in local telephone directories.
From the Daily Regulatory Reporter
