The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, is the federal agency that administers safety in the workplace throughout the country. Many states also have a state plan, Tennessee has a plan that is designed to implement and to enforce the requirements of OSHA. The purpose of both OSHA and the Tennessee plan are to enforce the standards they have established in the workplace, to assist the states in enforcing their own requirements, and provide for research, information, and training for workplaces and employers throughout the country. 

The General Duty Clause is for industries that do not have a specific safety standards. Each employer should furnish to each of their employees, employment in a place that is free of recognized hazards that are likely to cause death or serious injury. 

The Workers’ Compensation System, in Tennessee, is required if you have five or more employees. The workers’ comp system is a compromise between the business community and the employees in which employees are provided a certain amount of compensation for their injuries/illnesses that occur during employment. The injury or illness must be connected to employment. The workers’ comp system is a ‘no fault system’, meaning that employees do not have to prove that it was the employer’s fault that the injury/illness happened. Exceptions to coverage are an injury that takes place while an employee is intoxicated, employee failed to wear required safety equipment, failed to comply to safety requirements, or if they intentionally injured themselves.