Journalists and other workers at U.S. companies assigned to duties outside the country don’t give up their right to health and safety on the job, and their employers can be held accountable for violations, according to a recent OSHA case.

The case against ABC, involving NABET members covering Japan’s tsunami and resulting radiation leaks, cost the network a $3,000 fine in a settlement with OSHA. But CWA, NABET and NewsGuild leaders say the small penalty pales next to the far-reaching precedent the case sets.

“OSHA officials made it clear that the agency provides coverage of U.S. companies and their employees, even if the work is performed outside the United States,” CWA Safety and Health Director Dave LeGrande said. “This decision has tremendous potential for union safety and health activities for our NABET and Guild members, and others, who perform work outside the country.”

In the ABC case, NABET Local 51016 members sent to cover the tsunami in Japan were given radiation monitoring badges. In addition to those readings, ABC told the union and OSHA that it had workers’ equipment and personal items tested for radiation when they returned. But other than a summary report, ABC refused to hand over the full and final results of the tests.

“It turned out that ABC hasn’t been truthful about how much monitoring they had done, and the results they got were inconclusive at best,” LeGrande said. “We don’t really know what level of exposure the workers had.”

What is clear, however, is that there is now a precedent that, as long as it’s a U.S. company, “the employer maintains the responsibility for its workers, regardless of what country they’re in,” he said.

NABET-CWA President Jim Joyce, who also chairs the CWA Executive Board's Health and Safety Committee, said, "While we are grateful that OSHA has affirmed their regulatory protection for our members and other workers performing assignments overseas, it is unfortunate that the union could not get the cooperation of ABC News in this matter prior to agency intervention. But thanks to the resources of CWA District 1 and headquarter's Health and Safety Department and its director, Dave LeGrande, our members were provided the much needed assistance they deserved."

The protections the case offers may be more complicated when it comes, for instance, to reporters in a war zone. However,  LeGrande said, “I would read it liberally, that it is within OSHA’s jurisdiction,” to require that employers ensure that workers are as safe as possible, even when they are willingly taking high-risk assignments.

NewsGuild-CWA President Bernie Lunzer urged locals to familiarize themselves with the case and make sure employers are aware of their responsibilities.

“Even though this particular case involves broadcast employees represented by NABET, it clearly has consequences for NewsGuild employers,” Lunzer said. “Whether our members are covering a natural disaster in another country or are assigned to an overseas office that turns out to have asbestos, this case helps us protect their health and safety. That’s one of the fundamental reasons for having a union, and we take it very seriously.”