About OSHA

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates safety in the workplace by setting standards and enforcement procedures to which employers must comply. Since its creation in the 1970s, OSHA has been committed to improving safe and healthy working conditions for America's workers.

Benefits

As a government regulated agency, OSHA gives workers the right to file formal complaints identifying workplace conditions threatening their health or safety. As a result, employers often quickly correct hazardous conditions brought to their attention. OSHA standards require the nation's employers to implement safety practices and use safety equipment, as well as keep accurate records of workplace injuries and illness. Employers who do not comply can be cited and fined.

The Facts

Since the establishment of OSHA, workplace deaths have decreased by 60 percent; down from 14,000 deaths due to job-related accidents each year. Reports show that workplace illness and injury have decreased by 40 percent overall. With amputations ranking among the most serious workplace injuries resulting in permanent disability, OSHA has attempted to provide resources and other information useful to employers to help them identify and manage the common hazards associated with the operation of machinery in the workplace.

History of

Created under President Nixon in the 1970s when the work environment was much more dangerous, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration followed the passage by Congress of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. At that time more than 2.5 million workers were disabled each year as the result of injuries occurring in the workplace, with another 300,000 workers developing illnesses somehow related to their occupations. During the Carter Administration, OSHA attempted to simplify regulations and eliminate unnecessary rules, as the agency's goal was to help America's small businesses save both money and lives. Early priorities included careful review of all safety regulations in order to eliminate those unrelated to job health and safety. While the Occupational Safety and Health Act covers all employees and employers in the U.S., some OSHA regulations allow individual states to develop state safety and health regulations. Throughout the years, OSHA also has published and distributed a series of materials on workers' rights.

Function

Employers are required to post on a bulletin board visible to employees a poster that states OSHA's General Duty Clause, which reads: "Each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees. Whenever a serious accident occurs in the workplace, OSHA officials can be called in to investigate the incident. Following the investigation, if an employer is found to be at fault, OSHA will issue the employer a citation, as failure to use correct safety practices when dealing with a recognized hazard is a violation of OSHA's regulations."

Expert Insight

Some public health experts charge that during the Bush administration, OSHA has become lax, adopting the fewest regulations in its nearly 40-year history. In recent years, the agency has failed to mandate new safeguards, which would protect millions of workers. In fact, when George W. Bush first took office, OSHA withdrew more than a dozen regulations proposed during the Clinton administration. Critics point out that today OSHA appears to be focusing less on setting standards and more on fostering voluntary industry partnerships, which allows industries and businesses to regulate themselves.