Many of the everyday jobs in a civilian workplace can also be found on a military base. As such, they fall under the OSHA laws the same as any other workplace. Employers must ensure that the workplace is free from any workplace hazards and health issues that would harm the employee. Posters must be placed in conspicuous areas in the workplace identifying potential health and safety hazards. Employers must also inform workers about first aid methods. To make sure that employers are keeping their workplaces up to standard, an inspection from an OSHA employee may take place without advance notice. This usually happens when a complaint is filed with OSHA by an employee of an organization. The employer may not take action or discriminate against the employee that filed the complaint. If OSHA finds that the complaint is warranted, the employer must correct the situation and obtain certification that the health or hazard situation has be fixed. The employer must also notify the employees that the issue has been resolved. Employers are given a small window of time to contest any citations issued by OSHA. If the citation is not contested by the employer, the problem must be fixed or a penalty will be issued. Employers should not ignore OSHA because even though the laws were instituted to protect the employees of a company, they can also protect the employer from any potential lawsuits. The laws were designed to protect both the employee and employers.

Members of the military may face deployment to a foreign country on a short notice. We know that OSHA covers military bases, but very little useful information can be found on whether OSHA covers deployed military staff. When signing up for the Marine Corps or any other military branch, the person should realize and be told by the recruiter that if our country is in conflict or at war with another country, there is chance of deployment and a chance that the person (depending on his specialty) will have to fight in the war. Because of this, the OSHA laws may...

OSHA cannot issue citations to instances of war because it is reasonable to expect that in a war, there is the possibility of injury or loss of life. While this is unfortunate, it is a situation that cannot comply with the OSHA laws. If OSHA tried to step in and demand that those on the battlefield have a safe environment to work in it would not make sense because war is never safe. For this reason, we have amendments such as the NDAA.
The NDAA in a sense supplements OSHA for military employees. A military employee should have reasonable expectations of safety if employed at a military base since many jobs are similar to a regular office environment. However, if an employee is deployed to a country where a war is taking place and they are injured, they at least have the comfort of knowing that while they are recuperating, a close family member is allowed to take an extended leave of absence from his or her job in order to care for him while he recuperates. The family member also has no worry of not having a job upon returning to work since the employer must ensure that the person's job is waiting for them upon their return.

Being a member of the military is a unique experience. Military employees are to be commended and respected for their commitment to serve and protect our country. They deserve the same privileges as everyone else and sometimes they deserve special consideration because of their special circumstances. When one law may not cover them fully, another one may be amended to close the gap.

References

Baird, Chardie L. And Reynolds, John R. (2004). Employee awareness of family leave benefits: The effects of family, work and gender. The Sociological Quarterly. 34(2): 325-353.

http://www.envoynews.com/elarbee/e_article001597206.cfm?x=bfPCGs5,b5gm6J1l,w (Accessed on June 15, 2010).

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document-p_table=OSHACT&p_id=2743 (Accessed on June 15, 2010).