This Compliance Assistance product is not a standard or
regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations. The Compliance Assistance
product is advisory in nature, informational in content, and is intended to
assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace. Pursuant to the
Occupational Safety and Health Act, employers must comply with safety and health
standards promulgated by OSHA or by a State with an OSHA-approved State Plan. In
addition, pursuant to Section 5(a)(1), the General Duty Clause of the Act,
employers must provide their employees with a workplace free from recognized
hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Employers can be cited
for violating the General Duty Clause if there is a recognized hazard and they
do not take reasonable steps to prevent or to abate the hazard. However, failure
to implement these recommendations is not, in itself, a violation of the General
Duty Clause. Citations can only be based on standards, regulations, and the
General Duty Clause. Employers and employees in
States with OSHA-approved State plans should contact the State for specific
information on State requirements which may differ from Federal requirements.
The Department of Labor/Occupational Safety and Health Administration maintains this Web site to
enhance public access to the Department's information. This is a service that
is continually under development. We will make every effort to keep this site
current and to correct errors brought to our attention.
The documents on this site contain hypertext pointers to information created
and maintained by other public and private organizations. Please be aware that
we do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or
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to particular items in hypertext is not intended to reflect their importance,
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offered by the author of the reference or the organization operating the site
on which the reference is maintained.
Translations of any materials into language other than English is intended
solely as a convenience to the non-English-reading public. We have attempted
to provide an accurate translation of the original material in English, but
due to the difficulties of translation slight differences may exist.
References identifying the original document in English are available in most
non-English documents.
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