Workplace Health and Safety Policy
(with Acknowledgment) (NY)

Summary

This template is a New York workplace health and safety policy that informs employees of their employer's commitment to maintaining a safe working environment. This template includes practical guidance, drafting notes, and alternate and optional clauses. This template is intended for private employers. Note that New York has a state-specific NY OSH Act (New York State Plan for Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH)), but it only applies to public-sector employers. 12 NYCRR 801.0 (2002 NY Regulation Text 15541) and Instructions for Recording and Reporting Public Employees' Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SH 901). For more information, see NY OSH Act: Compliance Requirements. Employers may include this policy in an employee handbook or distribute it as a standalone policy. This workplace health and safety policy is based on federal and New York law. This template also sets forth the process by which employees may report workplace illnesses and injuries for the employer to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Act's (OSH Act) recordkeeping requirements. For a full listing of key content covering employee handbook considerations, see Employee Handbook Resource Kit. For information on workplace safety and health issues in New York, see OSHA Compliance: New York, Brightmine HR & Compliance Center Employment Law Guide 3162, Employee Health: New York, Brightmine HR & Compliance Center Employment Law Guide 3257, Workplace Safety: New York, Brightmine HR & Compliance Center Employment Law Guide 3309. For more information on OSH Act compliance, see OSH Act Requirements, Inspections, Citations, and Defenses, Pandemic Flu/Influenza/Coronavirus (COVID-19): Key Employment Law Issues, Prevention, and Response, and Practical Guidance's Labor & Employment offering's Occupational Safety and Health Act practice note page. See also HR and Workplace Safety (OSHA Compliance), Brightmine HR & Compliance Center Employment Law Guide 3146. For tracking of recent laws and agency rules regarding employer requirements under the OSH Act and other key federal, state, and local Labor & Employment legal developments, see Labor & Employment Key Legal Developments Tracker (Current).