Employer Responsibility Legislation

    Employer responsibility legislation is being presented by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's proposed rule for dealing with who is financially responsible for the payment of employee PPE which will deal with the regulatory language on this issue. Employers large and small will have the responsibility for not only supplying the required PPE but the business will also be accountable to absorb the financial costs of providing employee personal protective equipment.  In other words there will be no costs to the employees for their required PPE requirements as applies under this rule language change. I believe this is a step in the right direction in helping to protect our workers as this is a cost of doing business and industries as a whole can shoulder the costs of this employer responsibility legislation. You may be one of those concerned with your own employer occupational health and safety questions and the purpose of this information piece is intended to help you understand these projected rule amendments by OSHA.
    The language contained in the rule change proposal will explain and make clear that the financial costs of providing employee personal protective equipment will be paid for by the employer. There is a certain amount of exceptions to the obligation to compensate for these provisions when concerned with such items as logging boots, safety toe protective footwear, and prescription eye glasses. the results of this projected change in the regulatory language will enable employees to have the appropriate protection on the job. This is a win-win situation as first off the health of your employees will be better protected and it is estimated that business will realize a 3 to 1 return on the costs of paying for employee PPE. This pay back is a result of the savings in the cost of injuries and job related illnesses as well as workman's compensation (WCB) costs and employee absenteeism and will help with how an employer can control health care costs.

    As this enforcement becomes a reality it should apply industry wide which will cause both you and your competitors to be responsible for theses changes. This industry wide application should result in all parties accountable to be involved in absorbing the costs of this employer responsibility legislation which would lead to the initial financial obligations being factored into the price of the product or service. By having the costs applied industry wide competitive pricing considerations should not be a concern as all companies would have been able to factor in the additional costs. On top of that is the 3 to 1 pay back on investment which would actually lead to an increase in retained revenues.   
    It may be a good idea for you to start planning now to factor in price increases to cover the initial costs of paying for employee PPE so that when it comes time for the regulatory changes your business will be already prepared with a solid business plan.   
    The implementation of an employer paid personal protective equipment program should lead to improved employee moral and work ethic due to the workers satisfaction in having a safer work environment. As the business owner you are in a much better position to investigate the proper PPE required for each and every job task. This would lead to selecting the appropriate PPE required along with putting into effect a safety clothing program that will not only provide the required PPE but also ensure that the PPE is maintained correctly as to hygiene considerations and PPE replacement carried out when necessary.
    In the long run the savings of the employer financed PPE and the addition of employee work ethics will far outweigh the initial costs of the program and will answer the ongoing question of how can an employer control health care costs.

    OSHA believes that employers are able to provide and maintain their employee's PPE requirements by including this into the company safety program. Responsible work practices can be put into place to monitor and control the condition of the PPE and replacement of the equipment when necessary. When employee's are responsible for paying for their own PPE there is a tendency for people to neglect their own health in exchange for financial savings. This may come in the form of either inappropriate PPE and/or PPE that is utilized well beyond it's normal use or life span. This may sound silly but it is true that people can not or do not want to see the short or long term results that may occur due to exposure to workplace hazards. 

    I hope that this paper has helped somewhat to clarify your employer occupational health and safety questions concerning this matter of business payment of employee personal protective equipment.

    To view to full documentation on this employer responsibility legislation please click on the following link.

    "Click here" the read OSHA's proposed rule for employer payment of employee personal protective equipment (PPE).

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