OSHA’s General Duty Clause explained

OSHA’s General Duty Clause (GDC) states that each employer must furnish “a place of employment which is free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.” A GDC violation is used when there’s no specific standard under which to cite an employer. Employers can be cited if employees are exposed to a recognized, harmful hazard that has a feasible solution.

Scope

The GDC, found in Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act, extends OSHA’s authority beyond the specific requirements of the OSHA standards when a recognized, serious workplace hazard exists or potentially exists. It must be used by OSHA when:

• There’s no specific standard which applies to a recognized, serious hazard in the workplace; or
• A standard exists, but it’s clear that the hazards involved warrant additional precautions beyond what the current safety and health standards require.

However, the GDC has limitations. It must not be used when a standard applies to the hazard. Also, it must not normally be used to impose a stricter requirement than those imposed by an OSHA standard OR to require additional abatement methods not set in an existing standard. The occurrence of an incident does not necessarily mean that the employer has violated section 5(a)(1); although, the incident may be evidence of a hazard.

The following elements are necessary to prove a violation of the General Duty Clause:

• The employer failed to keep the workplace free of a hazard to which employees of that employer were exposed;
• The hazard was recognized;
• The hazard was causing or was likely to cause death or serious physical harm; and
• There was a feasible and useful method to correct the hazard.

A general duty citation must involve both the presence of a serious hazard and exposure of the cited employer’s own employees. Examples of hazards that have been cited under the GDC include, but are not limited to: heat stress, ergonomics, workplace violence, infectious diseases, combustible dust, and laser hazards.