Workplace safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires all employers to provide workplace safety. If you have questions regarding your obligations under this act, contact a business lawyer or the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA").

May an employee refuse to work on a dangerous job?
Filing claims

May an employee refuse to work on a dangerous job?

Many jobs - such as firefighting, skyscraper window-washing, etc. -have some inherent degree of danger. Workers in those jobs know that they have to perform the normal, occasionally dangerous, duties of those jobs. But no matter what the job, workers are not expected to perform work when you have not taken reasonable precautions to protect the workers from injury and illness. Your state may have a law that allows employees to reasonably refuse such work.

An employee generally can't refuse to perform allegedly "dangerous" work unless the fear of serious injury or death is a reasonable one. Also, your employee should first tell you that the work is unsafe. That gives you the chance to correct the dangerous condition.

This is a very difficult (and risky) area, and you should consider contacting an attorney before you decide to discipline a worker who refuses to perform dangerous work. If you have questions about workplace safety, contact a business lawyer in your area.

Find a Business Lawyer Now