The responsibility that the Occupational Safety and Health Act places upon an employer to maintain a workplace free from recognized hazards is commonly known as

The responsibility that the Occupational Safety and Health Act places upon an employer to maintain a workplace free from recognized hazards is commonly known as

• A. The general duty clause
• B. The safety responsibility clause
• C. The hazard clause
• D. The compliance clause

Answer: (A)

The general duty clause is the OSHA provision that requires employers to keep the workplace free from recognized hazards that could cause death or serious physical harm. Found in Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, it serves as a catch-all when a specific standard doesn’t address a hazard or when compliance with a standard isn’t enough to eliminate risk. Employers must identify hazards that are recognized by industry or employees, and take feasible steps to eliminate or reduce them through controls, training, safe practices, PPE, and engineering changes. Terms like safety responsibility clause, hazard clause, or compliance clause aren’t used in OSHA law, so the familiar label for this concept is the general duty clause.

The general duty clause is the OSHA provision that requires employers to keep the workplace free from recognized hazards that could cause death or serious physical harm. Found in Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, it serves as a catch-all when a specific standard doesn’t address a hazard or when compliance with a standard isn’t enough to eliminate risk. Employers must identify hazards that are recognized by industry or employees, and take feasible steps to eliminate or reduce them through controls, training, safe practices, PPE, and engineering changes. Terms like safety responsibility clause, hazard clause, or compliance clause aren’t used in OSHA law, so the familiar label for this concept is the general duty clause.