The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released a new version of the “It’s the Law” Job Safety and Health poster. This particular poster, which must be displayed by all covered employers, informs workers of their rights and employers of their legal obligation to provide a safe workplace. Due to some conflicting information about the 2015 change, however, you may be questioning how to handle the new posting. Here are the key considerations our full-time legal staff would like you to be aware of:
- The new poster expands upon the previous information –
Like before, the 2015 version of the “It’s the Law!” poster informs workers of their right to request an OSHA inspection and obtain medical records, along with the employer’s obligation to provide a workplace free from hazards and to display the federal poster. Beyond that, the list of employee rights and employer responsibilities has been expanded to cover certain training and injury reporting requirements.
- The previous poster remains compliant –
Are you getting notifications from other poster providers claiming this is a mandatory change? Don’t be misled! The new OSHA poster is NOT considered a mandatory posting change, which means you do NOT need to discard or replace previous versions.
- The choice to update the posting is yours –
While it’s not a legal requirement at this time, you’re more than welcome to replace your previous federal poster to cover the OSHA updates – and may choose to at any point. Many employers are ordering the newest federal poster because it contains OSHA information they want to share with their workforce. But again, the previous version can still be displayed.
In the meantime, keep in mind that any future orders of the federal poster will automatically include the new 2015 OSHA posting. Be aware, too, that the new posting could become mandatory in the future. Of course, we’ll keep you posted on this and any other developments.
