About This Course and the Supervisor in OSHA Law

This course is awareness training for new and current supervisors and team leaders in US workplaces. It explains what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules expect from the person who directs the work every day: planning jobs, inspecting, correcting hazards, enforcing rules fairly, looking after new and temporary workers, and handling injuries, incidents and inspections.

It is written for general industry and similar workplaces: plants, warehouses, workshops, utilities and maintenance teams. Examples use invented companies.

Why the supervisor matters

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) places its duties on the employer. But an employer is a company, and a company acts through people. On the shop floor, the person who assigns the task, chooses the crew, hands out the equipment and sees the work happen is usually the supervisor.

That is why OSHA cases so often turn on what the supervisor knew, what they did and what they let pass. A rule written in the safety manual protects nobody if the supervisor does not apply it on the day.