Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Not to be confused with EU-OSHA, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. For other uses, see OSHA (disambiguation).

Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Agency overview
Formed 1971
Jurisdiction Federal government of the United States
Headquarters Washington, D.C.
Employees 2,265 (2015)[1]
Annual budget $552 million (2015)[1]
Agency executive
Parent department United States Department of Labor
Website www.osha.gov

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. Congress established the agency under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which President Richard M. Nixon signed into law on December 29, 1970. OSHA's mission is to "assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance".[2] The agency is also charged with enforcing a variety of whistleblower statutes and regulations. OSHA is currently headed by Assistant Secretary of Labor David Michaels.

History

OSHA officially formed on April 28, 1971, the date that the OSH Act became effective.[3] George Guenther was appointed as the agency's first director.

OSHA has a number of training, compliance assistance, and health and safety recognition programs throughout its history. The OSHA Training Institute, which trains government and private sector health and safety personnel, began in 1972.[3] In 1978, the agency began a grantmaking program, now called the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, to train workers and employers in reducing workplace hazards.[3] OSHA started the Voluntary Protection Programs in 1982, which allow employers to apply as "model workplaces" to achieve special designation if they meet certain requirements.[3]

OSHA coverage

The OSHA Act covers most private sector employers and their workers, in addition to some public sector employers and workers in the 50 states and certain territories and jurisdictions under federal authority. Those jurisdictions include the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Wake Island, Johnston Island, and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands as defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

Private sector employers

OSHA covers most private sector employers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and other U.S. jurisdictions—either directly through federal OSHA or through an OSHA approved state plan.

State plans are OSHA-approved job safety and health programs operated by individual states instead of federal OSHA. Federal OSHA approves and monitors all state plans and provides as much as fifty percent of the funding for each program. State-run safety and health programs are required to be at least as effective as the federal OSHA program.

The following 22 states or territories have OSHA-approved state programs: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.[4]

Federal OSHA provides coverage to certain workplaces specifically excluded from a state’s plan — for example, work in maritime industries or on military bases.

State and local governments

Workers at state and local government agencies are not covered by federal OSHA, but have OSH Act protections if they work in those states that have an OSHA-approved state program. OSHA rules also permit states and territories to develop plans that cover only public sector (state and local government) workers. In these cases, private sector workers and employers remain under federal OSHA jurisdiction. Five additional states and one U.S. territory have OSHA approved state plans that cover public sector workers only: Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New York, and the Virgin Islands.

Federal government agencies

OSHA’s protection applies to all federal agencies. Section 19 of the OSH Act makes federal agency heads responsible for providing safe and healthful working conditions for their workers. OSHA conducts inspections of federal facilities in response to workers’ reports of hazards and under programs that target high hazard federal workplaces.[5]

Federal agencies must have a safety and health program that meets the same standards as private employers. OSHA issues “virtual fines” to federal agencies – following an inspection where violations are found, OSHA issues a press release stating the size the fine would be if the federal agency were a private sector employer. Under a 1998 amendment, the OSHA Act covers the U.S. Postal Service the same as any private sector employer.

Not covered under the OSHA Act

The self-employed; immediate family members of farm employers; and workplace hazards regulated by another federal agency (for example, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Energy, or Coast Guard).[6]

Rights and responsibilities under OSHA law

Employers have the responsibility to provide a safe workplace.[7]

By law, employers must provide their workers with a workplace that does not have serious hazards and must follow all OSHA safety and health standards. Employers must find and correct safety and health problems. OSHA further requires that employers must first try to eliminate or reduce hazards by making feasible changes in working conditions rather than relying on personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves, or earplugs. Switching to safer chemicals, enclosing processes to trap harmful fumes, or using ventilation systems to clean the air are examples of effective ways to eliminate or reduce risks.

Employers must also:

Workers have the right to:[15]

Temporary workers must be treated like permanent employees. Staffing agencies and host employers share a joint accountability over temporary workers. Both entities are therefore bound to comply with workplace health and safety requirements and to ensure worker safety and health. OSHA could hold both the host and temporary employers responsible for the violation of any condition.[17]

Health and safety standards

The Occupational Safety and Health Act grants OSHA the authority to issue workplace health and safety regulations. These regulations include limits on hazardous chemical exposure, employee access to hazard information, requirements for the use of personal protective equipment, and requirements to prevent falls and hazards from operating dangerous equipment.

OSHA’s current Construction, General Industry, Maritime and Agriculture standards[18] are designed to protect workers from a wide range of serious hazards. Examples of OSHA standards include requirements for employers to: provide fall protection such as a safety harness/line or guardrails; prevent trenching cave-ins; prevent exposure to some infectious diseases; ensure the safety of workers who enter confined spaces; prevent exposure to harmful chemicals; put guards on dangerous machines; provide respirators or other safety equipment; and provide training for certain dangerous jobs in a language and vocabulary workers can understand.

OSHA sets enforceable permissible exposure limits (PELs) to protect workers against the health effects of exposure to hazardous substances, including limits on the airborne concentrations of hazardous chemicals in the air.[19] Most of OSHA’s PELs were issued shortly after adoption of the OSH Act in 1970. Attempts to issue more stringent PELs have been blocked by litigation from industry; thus, the limits have not been updated since 1971. The agency has issued non-binding, alternate occupational exposure limits that may better protect workers.[20][21]

Employers must also comply with the General Duty Clause of the OSH Act. This clause requires employers to keep their workplaces free of serious recognized hazards and is generally cited when no specific OSHA standard applies to the hazard.

In its first year of operation, OSHA was permitted to adopt regulations based on guidelines set by certain standards organizations, such as the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, without going through all of the requirements of a typical rulemaking. OSHA is granted the authority to promulgate standards that prescribe the methods employers are legally required to follow to protect their workers from hazards. Before OSHA can issue a standard, it must go through a very extensive and lengthy process that includes substantial public engagement, notice and comment. The agency must show that a significant risk to workers exists and that there are feasible measures employers can take to protect their workers.

In 2000, OSHA issued an ergonomics standard. In March 2001, Congress voted to repeal the standard through the Congressional Review Act. The repeal, one of the first major pieces of legislation signed by President George W. Bush, is the only instance that Congress has successfully used the Congressional Review Act to block a regulation.

Since 2001, OSHA has issued the following standards:

Enforcement

OSHA is responsible for enforcing its standards on regulated entities. Compliance Safety and Health Officers carry out inspections and assess fines for regulatory violations. Inspections are planned for worksites in particularly hazardous industries. Inspections can also be triggered by a workplace fatality, multiple hospitalizations, worker complaints, or referrals.

OSHA is a small agency, given the size of its mission: with its state partners, OSHA has approximately 2,400 inspectors covering more than 8 million workplaces where 130 million workers are employed. In Fiscal Year 2012 (ending Sept. 30), OSHA and its state partners conducted more than 83,000 inspections of workplaces across the United States — just a fraction of the nation’s worksites.[22] According to a report by AFL–CIO, it would take OSHA 129 years to inspect all workplaces under its jurisdiction.[23]

Enforcement plays an important part in OSHA’s efforts to reduce workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Inspections are initiated without advance notice, conducted using on-site or telephone and facsimile investigations, performed by trained compliance officers and scheduled based on the following priorities [highest to lowest]: imminent danger; catastrophes – fatalities or hospitalizations; worker complaints and referrals; targeted inspections – particular hazards, high injury rates; and follow-up inspections.

Current workers or their representatives may file a complaint and ask OSHA to inspect their workplace if they believe that there is a serious hazard or that their employer is not following OSHA standards. Workers and their representatives have the right to ask for an inspection without OSHA telling their employer who filed the complaint. It is a violation of the OSH Act for an employer to fire, demote, transfer or in any way discriminate against a worker for filing a complaint or using other OSHA rights.

When an inspector finds violations of OSHA standards or serious hazards, OSHA may issue citations and fines. A citation includes methods an employer may use to fix a problem and the date by which the corrective actions must be completed.

OSHA’s fines are very low compared with other government agencies. They were raised for the first time since 1990 on Aug. 2, 2016 to comply with the 2015 Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act passed by Congress to advance the effectiveness of civil monetary penalties and to maintain their deterrent effect. The new law directs agencies to adjust their penalties for inflation each year. The maximum OSHA fine for a serious violation is $12,500 and the maximum fine for a repeat or willful violation is $125,000.[24] In determining the amount of the proposed penalty, OSHA must take into account the gravity of the alleged violation and the employer’s size of the business, good faith and history of previous violations. Employers have the right to contest any part of the citation, including whether a violation actually exists.[25] Workers only have the right to challenge the deadline by which a problem must be resolved. Appeals of citations are heard by the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC).

OSHA carries out its enforcement activities through its 10 regional offices and 90 area offices.[22] OSHA’s regional offices are located in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City metropolitan area, Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Recordkeeping requirements

Tracking and investigating workplace injuries and illnesses play an important role in preventing future injuries and illnesses. Under OSHA’s Recordkeeping regulation, certain covered employers in high hazard industries are required to prepare and maintain records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses. This information is important for employers, workers and OSHA in evaluating the safety of a workplace, understanding industry hazards, and implementing worker protections to reduce and eliminate hazards.

Employers with more than ten employees and whose establishments are not classified as a partially exempt industry must record serious work-related injuries and illnesses using OSHA Forms 300, 300A and 301. Recordkeeping forms, requirements and exemption information are at OSHA’s website.[26]

Whistleblower protection

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and 21 other statutes protecting workers who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, maritime and securities laws.[14] Over the years, OSHA has been responsible for enforcing these laws that protect the rights of workers to speak up without fear of retaliation, regardless of the relationship of these laws to occupational safety and health matters.[14]

Compliance assistance

OSHA has developed several training, compliance assistance, and health and safety recognition programs throughout its history.

The OSHA Training Institute, which trains government and private sector health and safety personnel, began in 1972.[27] In 1978, the agency began a grant making program, now called the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, to train workers and employers in identifying and reducing workplace hazards.[27]

The Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) recognize employers and workers in private industry and federal agencies who have implemented effective safety and health management programs and maintain injury and illness rates below the national average for their respective industries. In VPP, management, labor, and OSHA work cooperatively and proactively to prevent fatalities, injuries, and illnesses through a system focused on: hazard prevention and control, worksite analysis, training, and management commitment and worker involvement.[27]

OSHA’s On-site Consultation Program[28] offers free and confidential advice to small and medium-sized businesses in all states across the country, with priority given to high-hazard worksites. Each year, responding to requests from small employers looking to create or improve their safety and health management programs, OSHA’s On-site Consultation Program conducts over 29,000 visits to small business worksites covering over 1.5 million workers across the nation. On-site consultation services are separate from enforcement and do not result in penalties or citations. Consultants from state agencies or universities work with employers to identify workplace hazards, provide advice on compliance with OSHA standards, and assist in establishing safety and health management programs.[28]

Under the consultation program, certain exemplary employers may request participation in OSHA’s Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). Eligibility for participation includes, but is not limited to, receiving a full-service, comprehensive consultation visit, correcting all identified hazards and developing an effective safety and health management program. Worksites that receive SHARP recognition are exempt from programmed inspections during the period that the SHARP certification is valid.[29]

OSHA also provides compliance assistance through its national and area offices. Through hundreds of publications in a variety of languages, website safety and health topics pages, and through compliance assistance staff OSHA provides information to employers and workers on specific hazards and OSHA rights and responsibilities.[30]

Controversy

Much of the debate about OSHA regulations and enforcement policies revolves around the cost of regulations and enforcement, versus the actual benefit in reduced worker injury, illness and death. A 1995 study of several OSHA standards by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) found that OSHA relies "generally on methods that provide a credible basis for the determinations essential to rulemakings". Though it found that OSHA's finding and estimates are "subject to vigorous review and challenge", it stated that this is natural because "interested parties and experts involved in rulemakings have differing visions".[31]

OSHA has come under considerable criticism for the ineffectiveness of its penalties, particularly its criminal penalties. The maximum penalty is a misdemeanor with a maximum of 6-months in jail.[32] In response to the criticism, OSHA, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, has pursued several high-profile criminal prosecutions for violations under the Act, and has announced a joint enforcement initiative between OSHA and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which has the ability to issue much higher fines than OSHA. Meanwhile, Congressional Democrats, labor unions and community safety and health advocates are attempting to revise the OSH Act to make it a felony with much higher penalties to commit a willful violation that results in the death of a worker. Some local prosecutors are charging company executives with manslaughter and other felonies when criminal negligence leads to the death of a worker.

During its more than 40 years of existence, OSHA has secured only 12 criminal convictions.[33]

OSHA has been accused of being more devoted to the numbers of inspections than to actual safety. Industry associations and unions have resorted to court action to force OSHA to promulgate new standards such as the hexavalent chromium standard. OSHA has also been criticized for taking decades to develop new regulations. Speaking about OSHA under the George W. Bush presidency on the specific issue of combustible dust explosions, Chemical Safety Board appointee Carolyn Merritt said:[34]

The basic disappointment has been this attitude of no new regulation. They don't want industry to be pestered. In some instances, industry has to be pestered in order to comply.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "FY 2015 Department of Labor Budget in Brief" (PDF).
  2. ↑ "About OSHA".
  3. 1 2 3 4 "OSHA History" (PDF). Department of Labor.
  4. ↑ "What is an OSHA State Program".
  5. ↑ "Section 19 of the OSHA Act of 1970: Federal Agency Safety Programs and Responsibilities". Department of Labor.
  6. ↑ "Who OSHA Covers".
  7. ↑ "Employer Responsibilities".
  8. ↑ "OSHA Training Standards Policy Statement".
  9. ↑ "Personal Protective Equipment Booklet".
  10. ↑ "Personal Protective Equipment fact sheet" (PDF).
  11. ↑ "OSHA Inspections" (PDF).
  12. ↑ "OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements".
  13. ↑ "Job Safety and Health: It's the Law Poster" (PDF).
  14. 1 2 3 4 "The Whistleblower Protection Program".
  15. ↑ "Worker's Rights".
  16. ↑ "How to File a Confidential Complaint with OSHA".
  17. ↑ "Temporary Workers".
  18. ↑ "OSHA Law and Regulations".
  19. ↑ Maxwell, Nancy Irwin (2014). Understanding Environmental Health. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett. p. 226.
  20. ↑ Hill Jr., Robert H.; Finster, David C. (2016). Laboratory Safety for Chemistry Students. John Wiley & Sons. p. 103.
  21. ↑ "Permissible Exposure Limits – Annotated Tables".
  22. 1 2 "Commonly Used Statistics".
  23. ↑ "Death on the Job: the Toll of Neglect. 20th Edition, 2011" (PDF). AFL-CIO.
  24. ↑ Berzon, Alexandra (3 November 2015), "OSHA Fines to Rise for First Time Since 1990", The Wall Street Journal, retrieved 3 September 2016
  25. ↑ "Employer's Rights and Responsibilities Following and OSHA Inspection". Department of Labor.
  26. ↑ "OSHA Injury and Illnesses and Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements".
  27. 1 2 3 https://www.osha.gov/history/OSHA_HISTORY_3360s.pdf
  28. 1 2 "On-site Consultation Program".
  29. ↑ "Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program".
  30. ↑ "Compliance Assistance Quick Start". www.osha.gov. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
  31. ↑ "Gauging Control Technology and Regulatory Impacts in Occupational Safety and Health: An Appraisal of OSHA's Analytic Approach" (PDF). US Government, Office of Technology Assessment. US Government Printing Office. September 1995.
  32. ↑ "OSHA Administrative Penalty Information Bulletin".
  33. ↑ Nash, James (February 25, 2004). "Justice Dept. Drops Most Criminal OSHA Referrals". EHS Today. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  34. ↑ Pelley, Scott (2008-06-08). "Is Enough Done To Stop Explosive Dust?". 60 Minutes. CBSnews.com. Retrieved 2008-06-09.

External links

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