Well, no, Jim. Must, shmust. That difference is not important at all when you introduce the OSHA rules as national standards of practice even though the employer/defendant was not legally bound by them. And remember, the employer/defendant also is not legally bound to follow any ANSI or ASTM standard either unless is it referenced in some law that applies. So we use the OSHA standards as just another set of standards.

Sometimes it takes a Frye hearing to do that and an agreement to make sure the jury knows the defendant was not bound by law to follow these standards. But once the OSHA standards are in, the fact that OSHA precautions were available and being practiced by others while this employer/defendant didn't do anything even close to those precautions goes to negligence. Been there, done that.

And one other little twist that is worth noting, the OSHA standards are for adult trained workers. If a school doesn't provide precautions BETTER than these OSHA rules require for their students, oops! Students are not always adults, not being paid, and are by definition inexperienced and untrained. Juries usually have a lot of current and former parents of students in them. I smell toast.

Monona Rossol, M.S., M.F.A., Industrial Hygienist

President: Arts, Crafts & Theater Safety, Inc.

Safety Officer: Local USA829, IATSE

181 Thompson St.., #23

New York, NY 10012 212-777-0062

actsnyc**At_Symbol_Here**cs.com www.artscraftstheatersafety.org

-----Original Message-----
From: James Kaufman <jim**At_Symbol_Here**LABSAFETY.ORG>
To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Sent: Tue, Aug 28, 2018 7:27 am
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] NSTA Safety Blog

Monona wrote ...

"I always put in my boiler plate about the different OSHA state rules and how, whether in effect or not in a particular school, the fact that the OSHA regulations are accepted national standards as well as regulations puts a teachers liability on the line if they ignore them. "

However, truth be told, OSHA regulations are not accepted nationally as regulations in many public sector places of employment. There is a difference between Must and Should. We have a responsibility to make the difference clear between Regulatory Requirements and Best Practices.

Otherwise, we are heading down the slippery path of the ends justifying the means.

I reviewed the CHP of one pharmaceutical company that included the words Must and Should in their glossary. ... Jim

PS. There's more to lab safety than just labs!"

James A. Kaufman, Ph.D.

Founder/VP of Education
The Laboratory Safety Institute (LSI)
A Nonprofit Educational Organization for Safety in Science, Industry, and Education

192 Worcester Street, Natick, MA 01760-2252
508-647-1900 Fax: 508-647-0062
Cell: 508-574-6264 Res: 781-237-1335
Skype: labsafe; 508-401-7406

jim**At_Symbol_Here**labsafety.org www.labsafety.org

Teach, Learn, and Practice Science Safely

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