OSHA may cite employers who fail to comply with generally accepted industrywide safety standards even if there is no specific OSHA regulation that is violated?

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not specified
• D. Depends

Answer: (A)

OSHA’s General Duty Clause is the basic idea here: employers must keep the workplace free from recognized hazards that could cause serious harm, even when there isn’t a specific OSHA regulation that directly covers the exact condition. When a hazard is generally accepted in the industry as dangerous and a company fails to address it, OSHA can cite under this clause. This means that compliance isn’t limited to obeying every specific regulation; it also includes following widely recognized safety practices adopted by the industry. If the industry standard exists and the employer ignores it, that can be a basis for citation because the hazard is recognized and the potential harm is real.

Think of widely accepted practices from consensus standards (like NFPA or ANSI guidelines) that the industry treats as the norm. If a company neglects those practices, OSHA can still take action under the General Duty Clause, even without a matching OSHA regulation. That’s why the statement is true.

Choosing false would ignore OSHA’s catch-all authority to penalize unsafe conditions that aren’t spelled out in a particular regulation. The options not specifying or suggesting it depends don’t fit with how the General Duty Clause operates in practice.