Pittsburgh is the home of many labor-intensive jobs that require workers to be vigilant about their safety and their surroundings. However, the employer also has requirements that are set to ensure the correct safety precautions are being followed by Pittsburgh businesses and workers. These Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, along with state regulations, are set in order to prevent workplace injuries and workplace deaths. OSHA regulations grant Pittsburgh workers a host of rights designed to protect workers from injury, illness and death.
First, and maybe most importantly, is that a worker has the right to refuse work if the workplace poses an imminent threat to the worker’s life. In addition, a worker cannot be fired or otherwise retaliated against by the business for asserting his or her OSHA rights. Moreover, a worker is able to address OSHA safety concerns that are not being met by the business by asking an employer to cure any OSHA violations without fear of retaliation. These OSHA standards are granted to all Pittsburgh workers and aim at reducing and eliminating workplace injuries and deaths.
Sometimes a workplace injury or death could have been prevented if the employer took proper care to ensure their employee’s safety. An injured victim and their family may want to talk to an attorney if they brought up OSHA safety complaints about the workplace to their employer and their complaints were ignored. If the employer failed to make the workplace safe enough, and it led to worker injury, the injured worker may want to seek compensation. However, each case is different and will require different tactics to prove negligence.
A workplace injury can mean the difference between health and financial stability and disability and financial ruin. They say, when it rains it pours. If it is raining on you and your family, you may want to consider your legal options for pursuing recovery for medical bills and lost wages.
Source: FindLaw, “Your Safety at Work — OSHA and State Law,” Accessed Dec. 14, 2015