Safety first: OSHA has high expectations for your business--are you in compliance?

Managers or owners of businesses--including CPA firms--may not regard their work environments as health and safety hazards, but Occupational Safety and Health Administration and California Division of Occupational Safety and Health regulations are applicable to all worksites, including office environments.

Understanding OSHA's jurisdiction, and your company's coverage under OSHA, is an important initial step in determining what safety and health measures should be taken in your workplace.

DIFFERENT GUIDELINES

Sec. 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 encourages states to develop and operate their own job safety and health programs. OSHA approves and monitors state plans and provides up to 50 percent of an approved plan's operating costs.

OSHA-approved plans covering the private sector operate in 21 states and Puerto Rico. Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Virgin Islands plans cover state and local government employment only.

California, as one of these states with approved plans, must set job safety and health standards that are "at least as effective as" comparable federal standards. Most states adopt standards identical to federal ones, though they may also promulgate more stringent standards and standards covering hazards not addressed by federal standards. All states with OSHA plans also offer compliance assistance services to employers. Because state rules differ, employers need to be aware of their particular state requirements.

In the remaining states and territories, occupational safety and health jurisdiction is the responsibility of federal OSHA.

In California, every employer that has any person engaged in or permitted to work for hire, except for household services, has a legal obligation to provide and maintain a safe and healthy workplace for employees, according to the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973.

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Companies are covered by OSHA and must comply with safety and health regulations to protect workers in their offices, unless the company is a sole proprietorship. OSHA does not have jurisdiction over individuals who own and operate sole proprietorships.

In states that have their own OSHA program, such as California, their safety and health regulations will have jurisdiction. In California, independent contractors are not covered by Cal/OSHA regulations, but this may vary in other states that administer their own state plans.

Cal/OSHA INJURY AND ILLNESS PREVENTION PROGRAM

An important difference between OSHA and Cal/OSHA is the California Code of Regulations, Title 8 Sec. 3203, which requires every California employer to have an effective, written Injury and Illness Prevention Program.

Such a program must include periodic inspections to identify and correct safety hazards, and programs that train employees at orientation and whenever new procedures and equipment are introduced, among other provisions.

Employers in violation of this regulation can incur fines up to $5,000.

Guidelines on developing an Injury and Illness Prevention Program can be found at www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/dosh_publications/iipp.html.

VIOLATING FEDERAL OSHA RULES

Penalties can be as high as $70,000 for a single 'repeat' or 'willful' violation. Penalties for regulatory violations, such as posting, record keeping or failure to report within eight hours the work-related death of an employee or hospitalization of three or more employees, can be as high as $7,000. (Note that some state plans, including California, have varying reporting requirements). It's important to understand how OSHA defines safety and health violations:

* Willful violations are those an employer knowingly or intentionally commits.

* Repeat violations are those OSHA considers substantially similar to one the employer was cited for in the past.

* Serious violations have a substantial probability of resulting in death or serious harm.

* Other-than-serious violations would likely not cause death or serious harm, but are directly related to the safety and health of employees.

An employer's best defense against an OSHA violation is to have a proactive, written safety program. Employers are eligible for certain penalty reductions, dependent on their size, history and good faith effort.

The penalties (See Figure 1) for a single violation do not take any reductions into account, and penalties listed for regulatory violations are base penalties, but again, can be as high as $7,000.

As a reminder, if you do business in a state with a state-run OSHA plan, you may be subject to different rules and different penalties than those of federal OSHA.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

As a first step to keeping workers safe, employers must perform a workplace assessment to determine what hazards exist and who might be exposed to those hazards during normal work activity. This can be done by simply walking through the office and observing all work areas.

You can obtain assistance by contacting the OSHA Consultation Program, a free, no-penalty service operating in all states. For information on California's Consultation Program, visit www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/consultation.html.

Once the workplace has been evaluated, employers are responsible for eliminating or minimizing the potential for workers' exposure to these hazards. Employers are expected to be aware of applicable OSHA or other industry-specific standards, and guidelines that address the recognized hazards. Methods of control must be put in place and employers must train workers on safe work practices to prevent exposure to hazardous conditions in the workplace.

Preventing injuries and illnesses requires ongoing workplace surveillance since it is likely for new hazards to surface as a result of changes in the workplace or tasks assigned to employees.

FREQUENTLY ENCOUNTERED SAFETY HAZARDS

Hazards related to electrical safety are high on the list of concerns to office worker safety, based on the safety and health standards most frequently cited by federal OSHA inspectors. Office managers should safeguard workers from potentially hazardous conditions when electrical equipment is improperly maintained or used. The general OSHA requirements for electrical safety are covered in 29 CFR 1910.301.

Common unsafe conditions include:

* Use of non-permitted flexible cords and cables (extension cords used on equipment that should be hard wired);

* Uncovered outlet boxes;

* Frayed electrical cords and wires; and

* Overloaded electrical outlets and extension cords.

Managers should inspect equipment to ensure these conditions are corrected.

General office housekeeping is another area of concern. Trips, slips and falls are common in offices due to messy passageways or workspaces, improperly stored equipment or supplies, and poorly maintained floors and floor coverings. OSHA's general requirements for housekeeping are outlined in 29 CFR 1910.22.

In California, similar requirements can be found in Title 8 of the state regulations regulations by visiting www.dir.ca.gov/Samples/search/query.htm.

Measures managers can take to minimize workers' injuries include:

* Ensuring proper storage of boxes or office supplies (for example, make sure stored items do not block walkways)

* Keeping extension cords and wires for office equipment neat and out of walkways to prevent tripping.

* Promptly addressing any loose carpeting or poorly maintained floor tiles.

* Ensuring the speedy cleanup of spills to prevent slips and falls.

Other considerations include ensuring that passageways and exit doorways are free from obstruction. Office supplies and equipment should not block exit routes and emergency exits doors should be clearly marked to facilitate rapid exit in case of an emergency. Office managers should check with their local fire department for other specific considerations, such as testing and inspecting fire extinguishers to ensure worker safety in emergencies.

OTHER SAFETY, HEALTH CONCERNS

Employers are responsible for protecting workers from recognized hazards, even where there are no OSHA standards that directly address those hazards, such as ergonomic-related hazards. California's standard addressing repetitive motion injuries can be found in Title 8, Sec. 5110.

With technological advancements have come some very common injuries and health effects, such as excessive fatigue; eye strain and irritation; blurred vision; headaches; stress; and neck, back, arm and muscle pain. Research has shown that these symptoms can result from problems with the equipment, work stations, office environment or job design, or from a combination of these.

To alleviate the complaints, employers should fit the workstation to the worker. Preventative measures include adjusting computer monitors, keyboards and chairs to ensure that workstations are properly fitted to the workers. Work pace and the repetitiveness of a task also can contribute to musculoskeletal injuries, so workers should be allowed to take breaks to stretch and readjust their muscles.

California's ergonomics publications, including Easy Ergonomics for Desktop Computer Users, can be downloaded from www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/puborder.asp.

Dionne Williams is senior industrial hygienist in the Office of Health Enforcement in OSHA's Directorate of Enforcement Programs.

Additional Assistance

www.osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness/consult.html

Free, confidential services to small employers to help improve their safety performance.

www.osha.gov

Get copies of the full text of OSHA standards and other information.

www.osha.gov/html/Feed_Back.html

Submit your specific workplace safety and health-related questions.

www.dir.ca.gov/dosh

Cal/OSHA

FIGURE 1 Noncompliance: What it Could Cost You

                                                  PENALTY PER SINGLE
VIOLATION                                         VIOLATION

Willful                                           $5,000-$70,000
Repeat                                            Up to $70,000
Serious                                           $100-$7,000
Other-than-serious                                $0-$7,000
Failure to abate a violation                      Up to $7,000 each day
within the prescribed time period
BASE PENALTIES FOR REGULATORY VIOLATIONS
Failure to post required OSHA job safety poster   $1,000
Failure to retain required OSHA injury and        $1,000 per year up to
illness logs (Note: Employers with 10 or fewer    three years
employees and business establishments in certain
industry classifications are partially exempt)
Failure to post OSHA citations                    $3,000
Failure to report within eight hours the          $5,000-$7,000
work-related death of an employee or the
hospitalization of three or more employees.