Worker Rights and Responsibilities

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Worker Rights and Responsibilities

If you are a worker, you have the right to:

• request an OSHA inspection for workplace hazards, violations of OSHA standards, or violations of the OSH Act (your name will be kept confidential on request);
• have an authorized employee representative accompany the OSHA compliance officer on the workplace inspection;
• confer informally with the OSHA compliance officer (in private, if preferred);
• be notified by your employer of any citations issued for alleged violations of standards at the workplace, and of your employer's requests for variances or for changes in the abatement period;
• contest the abatement time set in any citation issued to your employer by OSHA;
• file a complaint with OSHA if you believe that you have been dismissed, demoted, or otherwise discriminated against for exercising rights under OSHA;
• file a complaint with Federal OSHA authorities if your State agency fails to administer a State program as effectively as required by OSHA;
• ask OSHA about any tests performed in your workplace, the results of inspections, and any decision not to take action on a complaint;
• receive information from your employer about hazards and safety measures applicable to the workplace, OSHA standards relevant to your job, and the record of accidents and illnesses in the workplace;
• ask that National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health evaluate and provide information on the substances used in your workplace;
• refuse to work in an imminent danger situation, under certain conditions;
• submit written information or comment to OSHA on the issuance, revocation, or modification of an OSHA standard and to request a public hearing; and
• observe the monitoring and measuring of toxic substances in the workplace if you are exposed, and to have access to any records of your exposure.

You also have the responsibility to:

• read the OSHA poster in the workplace;
• comply with all the OSHA standards, with all requirements of your State-approved plan (if any), and with the employer's safety and health rules;
• report any hazards immediately to your supervisor,
• report to your supervisor any job-related illness or injury; and
• cooperate fully with the OSHA compliance officer who inspects your workplace.

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