LEGAL ASPECTS OF INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE

1. LEGAL ASPECTS OF INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE

2. Industrial Hygiene • The science and art devoted to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, control and managementof those environmental factors or stresses, arising in or from the workplace

3. Primary Objective • To protect the health and well being of employees by eliminating or reducing health hazards that arise from the workplace environment

4. Health Hazards • Chemical • Biological (e.g., bacterial, viral, insects, animals, allergens) • Physical (e.g., radiation, pressure, noise vibration, temperature) • Ergonomic (e.g., repetitive motion, body stress)

5. Major Disciplines • Engineering • Physics • Environmental Science • Chemistry • Biology

6. Legal Aspects of Industrial Hygiene & Occupational Health • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), under the Department of Labor • Workers Compensation • Lawsuits

7. Overview of OSHA The act created: • OSHA • NIOSH • OSHRC • OSHA Legislation

8. OSHA – The Agency Responsible for: • Promulgation Occupational Health and Safety Standards • Authorized to inspect workplaces and issue citations and civil penalties to employers who are not in compliance

9. NIOSH – National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health • Is responsible for research on worker health and safety • Recommends new standards to OSHA • Supplies OSHA with scientific and technical expertise for the rule making process

10. OSHCR – The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission • Set up as an independent agency having the responsibility to try OSHA cases and to hear appeals from decisions of administrative law judges

11. The “OSHA” Legislation • Employer Duties (General) • OSHA Standards

12. OSHA Standards • Performance Standards • Specification Standards

13. Workplace Inspections • OSHA inspections are made to determine whether employers comply with OSHA Standards, OSHA Regulations, and the general duty clause • Inspectors can issue citations which result in fines

14. Know the Law • The U.S. Department’s Wage and Hour Division enforces federal laws that regulate the hours and times adolescents may work

15. Worker’s Compensation • Compensation benefits to civilian employees of the for disability due to personal injury sustained while in the performance of duty • The Act also provides for compensation for employment-related disease

16. Liability • Torts – a private or civil wrong or injury • Negligence – conduct which falls below the standard established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risk of harm

17. Liability • Intentional or fraudulent misrepresentations • Breach of Contract – the deliberate breaching of the agreed upon circumstances or conditions

18. Industrial Hygienist as Expert Witness • An expert is “a person who, through education, experience, and/or training, possesses specialized knowledge or skill in a specific field”

19. Industrial Hygienist as Expert Witness • Uses of Experts: “If scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.”

20. Types of Experts • Trial Experts • Consulting Experts

21. Summary • Health Hazards • Legal Aspects • Standards • Liability • Expert Witness