How OSHA Works and What Rights You Have
The law behind workplace safety, what an employer must provide, and the rights that protect you for raising a concern.
By the end of this lesson you can
- Describe what OSHA is and what the General Duty Clause requires
- State the rights every worker has under the OSH Act
- Explain how to report a hazard and what protects you afterwards
- Identify what an employer must provide at no cost to you
Lesson Notes
Read through the key concepts before you try the challenge.
The rights are the part most workers do not know
You are new on a site and the guardrail on a scaffold is missing.
Your foreman says it is fine for one day. You need this job. Raising it feels like a risk to your employment, and staying quiet feels like a risk to your body. Most workers in that position say nothing, and most do not know the law is on their side.
Your task: Learn what you are entitled to, because the protection only works if you know it exists.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 created OSHA and established a basic principle: employers must provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. That sentence is the General Duty Clause, and it applies even where no specific standard covers the hazard.
| Right | What it means |
|---|---|
| A safe workplace | Free from recognized serious hazards |
| Training | In a language and vocabulary you understand |
| Information | Access to injury and illness records, and to hazard information for chemicals you work with |
| To report a hazard | To your employer or to OSHA, and to request an inspection |
| Protection from retaliation | It is illegal to fire, demote, or punish you for raising a safety concern |
| To speak to an inspector | Privately, during an OSHA inspection |
| Free protective equipment | Most required PPE is provided by the employer at no cost to you |
You may file a safety complaint with OSHA and request that your name not be revealed to your employer. Complaints can be filed online, by phone, by mail, or in person at an area office. You do not need to prove the violation — describing what you have seen is enough to prompt a review.
Your employer tells you that you must buy your own hard hat and safety glasses. Is that correct?
Challenge
Apply what you've learned in this lesson.
Find the real documents. OSHA publishes everything free.
- Find the OSHA Workers' Rights publication and read the section on retaliation.
- Find out whether your state has its own OSHA-approved state plan, and note what that changes.
- Locate your nearest OSHA area office and record how a complaint is filed.
- Write out what you would say to a supervisor about a missing guardrail, in three sentences, without being confrontational.
Finished this lesson?
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