Reasonable Foreseeability – OSHA Matters

The topic of this post is the issue of reasonably foreseeability. In raising this topic to the community of safety and health professionals, I feel like it is one of the most
misunderstood issues during an OSHA compliance visit. It is a powerful tool for safety
professionals seeking to mitigate risk to employees, manage OSHA compliance, and
address civil litigation concerns.

The 2020 OSHA Field Operations Manual (FOM) addresses “foreseeable” in too many
places to even begin making a list.  A quick word search in the FOM provides a litany of worthwhile lessons for safety professionals.

In the 2015 OSHRC case (Docket No. 13-1124) involving Integra Health, Commissioner Sullivan adopted a “reasonable foreseeability” test because any practice or condition that is unforeseeable cannot be prevented by an employer. An employer cannot render a workplace “free” of a recognized hazard if the hazard is unforeseeable.

This is a very important construct for safety and health professionals and their
employers.  It puzzles me why many of us do not read existing OSHA documents and
related OSHRC rulings to glean the practical advice available from the US legal system.

James Stanley
President, FDRsafety, LLC