Safe Staffing Levels? OSHA and Legal Liabilities

July 2, 2025

Introduction

OSHA duty officers around the country routinely field complaints from employees and labor unions alleging workplaces are understaffed and unsafe.

Unions often dispute staffing levels, complaining that employers have insufficient bargaining unit members and insufficient members with seniority.

Individual complainants allege that they are left to work alone, have no backup in case of emergency, or are at enhanced risk of accident or workplace violence.

OSHA duty officers normally tell complainants that there are no written regulations addressing safe staffing levels, and that it is not unlawful to work alone. But employers would be wise to consider staffing levels to protect employees from recognized hazards.

In many situations, appropriate staffing can reduce risks of accidents and slow-developing injuries and ensure employee safety and emergency response. Accordingly, understanding of issues relating to safe staffing levels can be key to minimizing risks to OSHA citations and other legal liabilities. 

OSHA and Legal Liabilities

Under the OSH Act’s General Duty Clause (section 5(a)(1)), employers must provide a workplace free from any recognized hazard likely to cause death or serious physical harm.

For OSHA to cite an employer under the General Duty Clause, the hazard must be recognized by the employer or in the industry. Where insufficient staffing is recognized to expose employees to hazards, employers face liability for Serious or Willful OSHA citations.

Recognized hazards principally exist where staffing levels render employees unable to perform critical safety tasks.  Further, injuries to employees resulting from alleged understaffing could result in workers compensation claims. Injuries to non-employee workers could result in tort claims, alleging negligence and a failure to meet the standard of care of a reasonable employer.

Though there is no criminal liability for a willful violation brought under the General Duty Clause, a willful violation of a specific regulation resulting in a fatality can result in criminal prosecution punishable with six months in federal prison. State governments occasionally also prosecute employers (and managers) for a range of criminal violations relating to deaths in their workplaces.

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