How to Tell If Your Company Is OSHA Regulated
- 1). Find out how many people your company employs. Employers with 10 or fewer employees and employers in specified low-hazard fields are exempt from OSHA requirements for reporting injuries and illnesses. However, all OSHA-regulated companies, regardless of size or industry field, must report incidents that result in a death or the hospitalization of three or more employees.
- 2). Determine if your company has employees or if it exclusively uses independent contractors. The company is not OSHA-regulated if there are no employees. In general, a hired person is an employee if the company pays the person an hourly wage or salary or issues a Form W-2. The hired person may qualify as an independent contractor if she owns or operates her own business, can hire and pay assistants, sets her own work time and hours, or uses her own tools or equipment.
- 3). Determine if your company has unpaid or uncompensated persons. According to OSHA's interpretations, its requirements do not apply to volunteers or unpaid students. If the organization has paid employees and unpaid persons, apply OSHA's requirements only to the paid employees.
- 4). Determine if your company is considered part of the state or local government. Agencies, divisions and sections of state or local governments are not regulated by OSHA. The Occupational Safety and Health Act excludes state and local governments from the definition of employers.
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