Do OSHA standards cite workers for violations?

• A. Yes
• B. No
• C. Only in emergencies
• D. Only if the worker is a supervisor

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is who OSHA enforces against. OSHA enforcement is built around holding the employer responsible for providing a safe workplace. When a violation is found, the citations and penalties are issued to the employer (or the responsible party such as a business owner or contractor), not to individual workers for typical safety violations. Workers have rights to report hazards and to be protected from retaliation for doing so, but they aren’t the ones who receive OSHA citations for safety violations.

So the correct idea is that OSHA standards do not cite workers for violations; the enforcement focus is on employers and those who control the workplace.