EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES Although the primary responsibility for compliance with the law rests with the employer, employees are obliged to comply with OSHA standards and regulations which are applicable to their own actions and conduct. Employees cannot be cited or fined for noncompliance; employers must set up their own disciplinary procedures for employees who violate standards or regulations. Employee rights include, but are not limited to, the following: • Employees have the right to request an OSHA inspection by filing a written complaint with the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Division describing the hazardous conditions that exist at the work facility. The complaint must be filed by a current employee or an authorized employee representative and must be signed. A complainant's name is not revealed nor is it part of any inspection record made available for review. • Employees may participate in standards development activities. • Employees must be notified of a variance request filed by their employer; employees may petition for a hearing on the variance request. • Employee representatives may participate in the opening conference, walk-around inspection and closing conference conducted as part of an OSHA inspection; employees who exercise this right must be paid their usual wage. • Employees may not be discriminated against because they exercised any right afforded them under the Minnesota OSHA Act. In addition, note that when an employee sues, alleging discrimination or discharge due to his or her assertion of rights under that Act, any communication between that employee and attorneys representing the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry is, per Minn. Stat. § 182.669, subd. 1, “privileged as would be communications between an attorney and a client.” EMPLOYEE RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT The Minnesota Employee Right-to-Know Act is intended to ensure that employees are aware of the dangers associated with hazardous substances, harmful physical agents, or infectious agents that they may be exposed to in their workplaces. The Act requires employers to evaluate their workplaces for the presence of hazardous substances, harmful physical agents, and infectious agents and to provide training to employees concerning those substances or agents to which employees may be exposed. Written information on hazardous substances, harmful physical agents or infectious agents must be readily accessible to employees or their representatives. Labeling requirements for containers of hazardous substances and equipment or work areas that generate harmful physical agents are also included. The Employee Right-to-Know Act applies to all Minnesota employers regardless of size (with the exception of federal agencies). Special provisions apply to certain technically qualified individuals as defined in the standard, farming operations, and waste service employers regulated by the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Employers should conduct an inventory of their workplaces to determine what hazardous substances, harmful physical agents or infectious agents are present and which employees are at risk of exposure. Once the survey is completed, the employer must obtain, and have accessible to
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