Client Alert
Small Business Safety and Health Guidebook
United States & Puerto Rico
By: Angel Berberena, Esq.
August 4, 2021
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) collaborated with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (“NIOSH”) to revise a handbook to provide small business employers with workplace safety and health information.
The Small Business Safety and Health Handbook highlights the benefits of implementing an effective safety and health program, provides self-inspection checklists for employers to identify workplace hazards and review important workplace safety and health resources for small businesses.
The handbook is meant as a general guide not to be used to assess compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 or other federal/local standards. The handbook does not create additional compliance requirements for employers, nor will OSHA cite employers for not following the handbook’s recommendations.
More than 20 states and territories, including Puerto Rico, operate State Plans (OSHA-approved workplace safety and health programs operated by individual states) covering most private sector workers and state and local government workers. See here for list of State Plans. Small business employers in a state or territory with a State Plan may be subject to different or additional requirements. However, OSHA expects employers in all states and territories to benefit from using the handbook.
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