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THE
OSH Act's General Duty Clause requires an employer to take certain physical measures to provide a safe work environment.
This implies that the employer is responsible for plan review
prior to and during construction of new facilities and work
area modifications, plus periodic review of existing facilities
to insure compliance with the regulations. These regulations
require that employers mitigate potential and actual hazards
by removing the hazard, using engineering controls to prevent
access to the hazardous area, or by developing a protocol
that allows work to occur because the hazard cannot be removed
or controlled. Maricopa County can proud of the fact that
despite having received several violations and some fines,
overall, there were few issues found.
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OSHA
has understood that the length and complexity of its various
standards could make it difficult to find references for all
required training. Therefore, in an effort to help employers,
safety and health professionals, training managers, and others
with a need to know, OSHA compiled the various training requirements
into its publication,
"Training Requirements in OSHA Standards and Training Guidelines,"
OSHA publication OSHA 2254. OSHA did not include information
such as information posting, warning signs, or labels, as
well as references to qualifications of persons who test workplace
conditions or equipment.
The
bottom line is that the County and its 15,000+ employees are
working together to make this a SAFE
place to work, a difficult task considering the size and variety
of operations. Management is making efforts to correct the
deficiencies by working with ADOSH, outside industrial hygiene
consultants, building contractors. And employees are requesting
more and better training.
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