Federal OSHA Poster

OSHA Job Safety and Health: It's the Law! Poster

Help satisfy federal workplace posting requirements with the OSHA Job Safety and Health: It's the Law! Poster. This official federal workplace notice informs employees of their rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and explains important employer responsibilities for maintaining a safe and healthful workplace.

Employers covered by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act must prominently display the OSHA Job Safety and Health Workplace Poster in a location where employees can readily see it.

What Is the OSHA Job Safety and Health Poster?

The OSHA Job Safety and Health: It's the Law! poster is the official workplace notice issued by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The notice informs workers about their workplace safety and health rights and summarizes important responsibilities employers have under federal occupational safety and health law.

Who Is Required to Post the OSHA It's the Law Poster?

Private employers covered by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act are generally required to display the OSHA Job Safety and Health Workplace Poster.

The notice must be posted prominently in the workplace where employees can readily see it.

Employers operating in states with OSHA-approved State Plans may be required to display a state-specific occupational safety and health poster instead of or in addition to the federal notice, depending on the applicable State Plan requirements.

What Rights Does the OSHA Poster Explain?

The OSHA Job Safety and Health Workplace Poster informs employees about important workplace safety and health rights, including the right to:

• Work in a safe workplace
• Raise workplace safety or health concerns with an employer or OSHA
• Report a work-related injury or illness without unlawful retaliation
• Receive information and training about workplace hazards
• Request an OSHA inspection when unsafe or unhealthy conditions may exist
• Have a representative contact OSHA on the employee's behalf
• Participate in an OSHA inspection
• Speak privately with an OSHA inspector
• See OSHA citations issued to the employer
• Request applicable workplace injury, illness, exposure, and medical records
• File a complaint when an employer retaliates against an employee for exercising protected OSHA rights

What Responsibilities Does OSHA Place on Employers?

The OSHA notice also reminds employers of important workplace safety and health responsibilities.

Covered employers must:

• Provide employees with a workplace free from recognized serious hazards
• Comply with applicable OSHA safety and health standards
• Provide required safety training to employees
• Provide required training in a language and vocabulary workers can understand
• Comply with applicable injury and illness reporting requirements
• Post OSHA citations at or near the location of an alleged violation when required
• Avoid unlawful retaliation against employees for exercising protected workplace safety and health rights
• Prominently display the required OSHA workplace poster

OSHA Severe Injury and Fatality Reporting

The OSHA Job Safety and Health poster reminds employers of federal requirements for reporting certain serious workplace incidents directly to OSHA.

Employers generally must report:

• A work-related fatality within 8 hours
• A work-related in-patient hospitalization within 24 hours
• A work-related amputation within 24 hours
• A work-related loss of an eye within 24 hours

These severe-incident reporting requirements are separate from an employer's OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping responsibilities.

Protection Against OSHA Retaliation

Employees have the right to raise workplace safety and health concerns and exercise other rights protected under the Occupational Safety and Health Act without unlawful retaliation.

The OSHA poster informs employees that they may file a complaint with OSHA if they believe an employer retaliated against them for exercising protected safety and health rights.

Under Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, an employee generally must file an applicable retaliation complaint within 30 days after the alleged retaliatory action.

Where Must the OSHA Poster Be Displayed?

The OSHA Job Safety and Health Workplace Poster must be displayed in a conspicuous workplace location where employees can readily see it.

Appropriate locations may include:

• Employee bulletin boards
• Employee entrances
• Break rooms
• Time-clock areas
• Human Resources areas
• Other locations where employee notices are customarily displayed

What Size Must the OSHA Poster Be?

OSHA establishes minimum requirements for reproductions or facsimiles of the Job Safety and Health Workplace Poster.

A reproduction must be at least 8.5 inches by 14 inches and use printing of at least 10-point type. When the poster is enlarged, the type size must also increase proportionately.

Employers should not reduce the OSHA notice below the minimum size required by federal regulation.

Do Employers Have to Replace an Older OSHA Poster?

OSHA states that employers do not need to replace previous compliant versions of the Job Safety and Health Workplace Poster simply because OSHA releases an updated design or edition.

Employers purchasing a new poster or replacing an existing workplace posting should use the current OSHA notice and ensure that the reproduction satisfies applicable size and legibility requirements.

Is the Spanish OSHA Poster Required?

Federal OSHA regulations do not generally require employers to display the OSHA poster in a foreign language. However, OSHA encourages employers with Spanish-speaking workers to also display the Spanish version of the notice.

Employers should also determine whether an applicable OSHA-approved State Plan or other workplace requirement creates additional language obligations.

Federal OSHA vs. OSHA State Plan Posters

Employers operating in an OSHA-approved State Plan jurisdiction should determine which occupational safety and health notice applies to their workplace.

When an approved State Plan poster informs employees of the protections and obligations provided by that plan, displaying the approved state poster can satisfy the applicable OSHA posting requirement for employers covered by the State Plan.

Employers with operations not covered by the State Plan may remain subject to the federal OSHA posting requirement.

Is the OSHA Job Safety and Health Poster Required?

Yes, for employers covered by the applicable federal OSHA posting requirement. Employers must prominently display the Job Safety and Health Workplace Poster where workers can readily see it.

This is an official required employee-rights notice and should not be confused with supplemental OSHA safety-awareness posters covering topics such as electrical safety, PPE, lifting, ergonomics, or other individual workplace hazards.

OSHA Job Safety and Health Poster Specifications

• Official federal OSHA employee-rights notice
• Meets or exceeds OSHA's minimum reproduction size requirement
• Printed for clear workplace display
• Laminated for added durability
• Available in English and Spanish

Federal Workplace Posting and Compliance Resources

Labor Law Compliance Center provides employers with federal and state labor law posters, OSHA workplace notices, federal contractor postings, specialty posters, and compliance resources throughout the United States. Browse our Federal Labor Law Posters for additional individual federal workplace notices and compliance products.