Employee rights to information under the OSHAct: “The Right to Know”

In a simplified economic model, in which workers have perfect information about the risks of injury associated with each job and there are no barriers to mobility between jobs, economists suggest that wages will reflect the level of hazard in jobs.  In this theoretical world, the mobility of workers would lead to wage differentials that would compensate them for the risk of injury.  Leaving aside the many arguments regarding both the empirical studies and the theory, it is quite clear that workers lack “perfect information.”  Applicants for jobs have no legal right to obtain any information regarding the health and safety risks within a workplace.  Although some data are public, including OSHA enforcement information, there is really very little accessible information that provides workplace-specific data. 

Employees do, however, have some rights to obtain information.  Two OSHA standards, the Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records, 29 CFR §1910.1020, and the Hazard Communication Standard, 29 C.F.R. 1910.1200, provide access to some information, when requested (this last point may be significant, if workers are reluctant to request the information to which they are entitled).  Unions also have broad rights to information under the National Labor Relations Act.