North Carolina adopted certain new federal OSHA standards, effective April 23, 2009, including the “Clarification of Employer Duty to Provide Personal Protective Equipment and Train Each Employee,” which clarifies that the personal protective equipment and training standards impose a compliance duty on each and every employee and failure to comply exposes the employer to liability on a per-employee basis. The stated purpose of this change is to amend the rule such that an employer’s failure to provide personal protective equipment or training for each employee is a separate violation. (NCAC 07F.0101 ff., 23 N.C.reg. 2170)
Note: This article was published in the October 2009 issue of the North Carolina eAuthority.