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Action: Analyze key components of the legal
system as it pertains to the Safety and
Occupational Health Profession.
Condition: In a classroom with references and case
histories.
Standard: Achieve a 75% on the Legal Aspects of
SOH examination
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Safety Considerations: None
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Risk Assessment: Low
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Environmental: None
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Evaluation: Written Examination
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Accident Prevention Manual for Business &
Industry:
• Administration & Programs
• Engineering & Technology
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Rules that regulate the conduct of individuals and
other organizations within society
• Intended to protect persons and their property from
unwanted interference from others
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That which must be obeyed and
followed by citizens subject to
sanctions or legal consequences; a
body of rules of action or conduct
prescribed by controlling authority,
and having binding legal force (Black’s
Law Dictionary)
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Functions of the law
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Keeping the peace
Shaping moral standards
Promoting social justice
Maintaining status quo
Facilitating orderly change
Providing a basis for compromise
Maximizing individual freedom
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Regulate & Investigate
• Working conditions
• Death & injury rates
• Workmen’s Compensation Programs
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Walsh-Healy Act
• Mandates safety measures for federal contractors
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Mining & Transportation
Construction Safety Act
Williams-Steiger OSH Act
Environmental Issues
Off-The-Job Safety
• Healthcare Reform
Administration Textbook @ Page 21
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Flexibility of the law
• Responsiveness
• Laws cannot be written in
advance
• General principles
• Predicting results of lawsuits
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Constitutions
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Treaties
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Codified law
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Administrative agency
rules and regulations
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Executive Orders
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Judicial Decisions
• Stare Decisis
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Supremacy Clause (Article VI, ¶2)
• Establishes federal constitution, treaties, federal laws &
regulations as supreme law of the land
• Preemption doctrine – federal law takes precedent over
state or local law
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The Bill of Rights
• Freedom of Speech (1st Amendment)
 Fully protected
 Limited protected
 Unprotected
• Unreasonable Search & Seizure
• Sell-Incrimination
• Right to Counsel
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Special federal courts
• U.S. tax court, claims court, bankruptcy courts
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U.S. District Courts
• Trial courts of general jurisdiction
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U.S. Courts of Appeals
• 13 circuits
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U.S. Supreme Court
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Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction
• Admiralty, antitrust, bankruptcy, copyright and
trademarks, federal crimes, patents, suits against
the U.S., other specified federal laws
Concurrent Jurisdiction
• Federal questions, diversity of citizenship cases
Exclusive State Jurisdiction
• Matters not subject to federal jurisdiction
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Standing to sue
• The plaintiff must have some
stake in the outcome of the
lawsuit
• Example: Linda’s friend Jon is
injured in an accident caused by
Emily. Jon refuses to sue. Can
Linda sue Emily on Jon’s behalf?
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Subject matter jurisdiction
• If a court does not have subject matter jurisdiction, it
cannot hear the case
• Example: bankruptcy court can’t hear a securities fraud
case
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Personal jurisdiction
• Jurisdiction over the parties to the case
• Example: Van der Sloot in NYC
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Pleadings
• Complaint and summons
• Answer
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Discovery
• Depositions, interrogatories, document production
Dismissals and pretrial judgments
 Trial
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Appeal
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Only the defendant can appeal in a criminal case
In a civil case either party can appeal
Review of the record, no de novo trial
Reversal based on error of law
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Rules and regulations
• Authority delegated from
legislature
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Adjudicative authority
• Presided over by Administrative
Law Judge
• Decisions of administrative law
judges may be appealed to the
proper federal or state court
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Methods of resolving disputes other than litigation
 Arbitration (binding & non-binding)
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• Impartial 3rd party hears and decides dispute
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Mediation and Conciliation
• Impartial 3rd party act as mediator
• Interested 3rd party acts as mediator
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Mini-trial
Fact-finding
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Conform to Peer Expectations
• Prudent Conduct
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Management Pressures
• Cost Demands
• Public Trust, Cost Reduction, Worker Retention, & Increase
Productivity = Mission Readiness
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Canons of Ethical Behavior
• American Industrial Hygiene Association
Maintain Confidentiality
 Disclose Risks to Workers
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Administration Textbook @ Page 36
Questions?
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