In an effort to achieve its goal, OSHA sets and enforces uniform regulations and standards that apply to all workplaces.
As defined in OSHA, 1910(f): “‘Standard’ means a standard which requires conditions, or the adoption or use of one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes, reasonably necessary or appropriate to provide safe or healthful employment and places of employment.”(OSHA.gov, 2023).
By the way, if at any time throughout this material you come across a subject matter for which you would like further clarification, you may visit www.osha.gov for additional insights pertaining to OSHA and its various codes, regulations, standards, and recommendations.
It should go without saying (but I will say it anyway) that I am not able to give you every single OSHA code or guideline within this material. After all, space is limited, and the code is very deep and highly complex.
However, it is important to note that OSHA does not specifically write or provide the standards pertaining to safety, health and security that are specific to the restaurant industry. In fact, there are many applicable restaurant industry standards that cannot specifically be found in the OSHA code. That is, in large part, why I created this material.
It is the legal responsibility under the Federal Law of the OSH Act for all employers — including those conducting business throughout the restaurant industry — to provide a safe and healthful workplace for every employee. Therefore, it is up to them individually and collectively as members of the restaurant industry (and as owners, managers, executives and decision-makers of these establishments) to recognize their own industry hazards and dangerous conditions and to create, maintain and comply with a wide variety of restaurant industry standards that pertain to safety, health and security.
Although many restaurant industry standards and the restaurant industry hazards and dangerous conditions they pertain to are not explicitly spelled out by OSHA, OSHA requires that all restaurant employers abide by them in an effort to provide a safe, healthy and secure working environment as defined in its General Duty Clause. I will talk more about this General Duty Clause later.
OSHA is the Law
The OSH Act, for the first time, set uniform national standards for providing a safe and healthful workplace and made it a legal responsibility to do so for all employers in the United States.
With the passing of the OSH Act, Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) “to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources.”(OSHA.gov, 2023).
Before the creation of the OSH Act (also known as Public Law 91-596), there were no national laws for safety and health hazards in the workplace. Some states now have their own OSHA laws which supersede the federal law (I’ll talk about this in more detail later, as it is not as “cut and dried” as it sounds).
OSHA regulations apply to all businesses having one or more employees. OSHA covers employers and workers in many fields, including, but not limited to, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, law, medicine and even charity and disaster relief. Religious groups may also be covered if they employ workers for secular (nonreligious) purposes, such as maintenance or gardening.
The most important thing to understand about this material is that OSHA regulations apply to nearly every restaurant and bar industry establishment, including, but not limited to, every kind of establishment that markets, sells and serves a food or beverage for human consumption — many times referred to as “eating or drinking establishments.”
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