What Is OSHA?

No employee should ever have to feel unsafe at work. This is where OSHA comes in. This important government entity plays a vital role in setting and enforcing safety standards across various industries. But what exactly does OSHA do, and why is it so important?

In this blog, we’ll break down the meaning of OSHA, its mission, and the ways it ensures safer working conditions for millions of Americans.

What Does OSHA Stand For?

OSHA stands for "The Occupational Safety and Health Administration."

What Is OSHA?

OSHA is a federal agency that establishes workplace safety protections. They get a bad rap for being nitpicky, but OSHA regulations are crucial to the well-being and productivity of our workforce.

OSHA plays an essential role in our economy, preventing workplace illnesses and injuries that would otherwise burden the healthcare system and cause thousands of workers and their families to lose wages.

To understand OSHA's meaning and value, however, you must know how much safer it's made us in the workplace.

What Is OSHA's Mission, History, and Accomplishments?

"In the last 25 years, more than 400,000 Americans were killed by work-related accidents and disease, and nearly 50 million more suffered disabling injuries. Not only has this resulted in incalculable pain and suffering for workers and their families, but such injuries have cost billions of dollars in lost wages and production." – Rep Steiger in 1970, speaking in support of creating OSHA

OSHA's mission is to assure "safe and healthful working conditions" for all workers, and it's been making steady progress for almost 50 years.

In 1970, Nixon signed the bipartisan Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) into law.  The following year, OSHA was born under the Department of Labor (DOL) to iron out workplace safety regulations and enforcement.

Over the next few years, the agency adopted specific safety standards, began approving State Plans, and established the OSHA Training Institute. The agency continued to craft new protections as more hazards came to light. Through this work, OSHA drastically reduced the number of workplace deaths.  In 1970, before OSHA took effect, there were an estimated 14,000 fatalities due to job-related accidents.

In 2022, there were 5,486 fatalities. That's impressive enough, but the workforce almost doubled in that time, so that means OSHA achieved roughly an 80% reduction in workplace deaths. In fact, by some accounts, the OSH Act has saved the lives of more than 647,000 workers. Non-fatal injuries and illnesses have also plummeted. 

In 1972, after reporting requirements were established, there were 10.9 incidents per 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers. By 2022, that number was just 2.7.

Who Does OSHA Cover (and Not Cover)?

The short answer is that OSHA regulations apply to all employees and employers under U.S. federal government authority.  But what, exactly, does that mean?

Where Does OSHA Apply?

OSHA applies to:

• All 50 states
• The District of Columbia
• All U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and minor outlying islands like Wake Island and Johnston Atoll)
• The Outer Continental Shelf Lands

Who Does OSHA Apply To?

Within those jurisdictions, OSHA covers:

• Most private-sector employers and their workers
• All federal agencies and their employees
• Public-sector employees in the 27 states and two territories where OSHA-approved State Plans (which are "at least as effective" as OSHA) apply to them. “Public-sector employees” are anyone who works for a state, territorial, or local government, including civil service jobs like police officers and firefighters.

What is Covered by OSHA?

OSHA has specific protections against exposure to many different hazards, including:

• Falls
• Harmful chemicals
• Dangerous machines
• The dangers of working in confined spaces
• Some infectious diseases

But even when no hazard-specific OSHA regulations apply, employers are subject to the General Duty Clause of the OSH Act.  It makes them responsible for protecting their workers from all "serious recognized hazards" and makes it possible for OSHA to immediately recognize and respond to previously unknown dangers.

While OSHA monitors high-risk industries more closely, their regulations apply to all types of jobs. You probably don't think about OSHA much if you work in an office. But it guarantees you sanitary working conditions, emergency evacuation plans, and fire extinguishing systems, among other things.

What's NOT Covered by OSHA?

OSHA does NOT apply to:

• Public sector employees in jurisdictions that don't have an OSHA-approved State Plan. That includes 23 states, D.C., and all but two U.S. territories.
• Self-employed individuals (including, at the moment, rideshare drivers and other "gig" jobs where you're an "independent contractor")
• Immediate family members of farm employers
• Workplace hazards regulated by another federal agency, including those under the jurisdiction of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the Department of Energy (DoE), the Federal Air Administration (FAA), or the Coast Guard (USCG).

What Rights Do Employees Have Under OSHA?

If you’re a worker under the protection of OSHA, you have the right to:

• Work under conditions that don't pose a serious threat to your health and safety.
• Receive information and training in a language and vocabulary you can understand, covering hazards in your workplace, methods to prevent harm, and OSHA regulations that apply to you.
• Notify your employer about workplace hazards without fear of retaliation or discrimination.
• File a safety and health complaint with OSHA confidentially.
• Take part in an OSHA inspection directly or through a representative.
• Speak in private with the OSHA inspector.
• See any OSHA citation issued to your employer, posted in plain sight.
• Have those violations corrected by the date on the citation.
• Receive copies of your medical records for work-related incidents or conditions.
• Receive copies of test results that measure hazards in your workplace.
• File a whistleblower complaint with OSHA if your employer retaliates against you as an OSHA whistleblower (including firing you, laying you off, failing to hire or rehire, blacklisting, demoting, denying overtime or promotion, reassigning to a position that affects prospects for promotion, reducing pay or hours, denying benefits, imposing discipline, intimidating you, or making threats).

Under certain conditions, you also have the right to refuse hazardous work.  But all the following must be met in good faith:

• The conditions need to present an obvious risk of death or serious physical harm. In other words, it needs to be a situation where any reasonable person would conclude that there's real danger.
• The danger needs to be so immediate that waiting for an OSHA inspection isn't practical. In other words, any reasonable person would conclude you shouldn't continue working while waiting for OSHA to confirm the threat.
• Someone needs to bring the threat to the employer's attention and give them the chance to eliminate it.
• THEN, if your employer can't (or won't) correct the condition, AND you have no reasonable alternative to protect yourself….

In that case, your employer can't legally retaliate against you for refusing that work.  This does NOT allow you to walk off the job site or refuse to perform other work. It only lets you refuse to put yourself in harm's way.

What Responsibilities Do Employers Have Under OSHA?

OSHA requires employers under their jurisdiction to provide a workplace free of serious hazards to their workers' health and safety.

When they discover a hazard, first, they must eliminate or reduce it by any feasible means. That includes measures like switching to a safer chemical, installing ventilation systems, or creating processes to trap dangerous fumes.

If these measures can't produce safe enough conditions, then employers have to provide personal protective equipment like masks, gloves, or earplugs.

Additionally, employers subject to OSHA compliance have a responsibility to:

• Provide safety training in a language and vocabulary workers can understand.
• Display the official OSHA Job Safety and Health poster describing workplace safety rights and responsibilities in a prominent place.
• Inform employees about chemical hazards.
• Keep accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses.
• Notify OSHA within 8 hours of a workplace fatality and 24 hours of any hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye.
• Perform tests like air sampling when required by OSHA standards.
• Perform hearing exams and other medical tests required by OSHA standards.
• Provide personal protective equipment at no cost (in most cases) to workers.
• Post citations and any injury/illness data where workers can see them.
• Not retaliate or discriminate against workers for using their OSHA-given rights in any way.

How Is OSHA Compliance Enforced?

OSHA ensures compliance with its standards through several avenues. In particular, there are three options in the agency’s toolbox that can be used to bring workplace safety in-bounds, depending on the level of cooperation they get from an employer.

Onsite Consultations

OSHA offers onsite consultations to employers who are in good standing with the agency. The consultation process is very similar to an inspection, which we’ll discuss below, but the employer has voluntarily invited the OSHA investigator onto the grounds.

Consultations come with no risk of a citation or penalty, as long as they’re requested in good faith. The OSHA investigator will point out any violations they see and set a time frame for the employer to correct any serious hazards. OSHA enforcement doesn’t get involved at all unless there’s an imminent danger that the employer fails to address quickly.

Consultations provide an avenue for collaborative employers to proactively gather information on OSHA compliance and resolve problems willingly.

Phone/Fax Investigations

If anyone suspects that an employer is committing a workplace safety violation, they can report the situation to OSHA. Workers aren’t the only ones allowed to submit complaints; the media, other government agencies, and unaffiliated organizations or individuals can all submit their concerns.

In most cases, a phone/fax investigation is the first step that OSHA takes after they receive such a complaint. Essentially, OSHA corresponds with the employer about the alleged hazards, and employers are required to respond with corrective actions they’ve taken or planned. OSHA will follow these proposals through to their conclusion, but as long as the employer is adequately responsive, OSHA won’t escalate to an on-site visit.

Phone/fax investigations provide an efficient way to handle workplace safety violations and OSHA compliance issues where the employer is cooperative once notified of a problem.

OSHA Inspections & Rapid Response Investigations

OSHA inspections – on-site visits that often result in citations or penalties – can be triggered in a few different ways. For high-risk industries, OSHA performs a certain number of routine inspections, targeting employers in particular if they have had a large number of injuries and illnesses in the past. It also performs follow-up inspections once violations have been found until the employer is back in full OSHA compliance.

OSHA will also perform an on-site inspection if there is reason to suspect a serious occupational safety and health violation; this is called a Rapid Response Investigation (RRI). If an employer reports a fatality, in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye, it automatically triggers an OSHA inspection. If someone reports a violation that presents an imminent danger to life or limb, OSHA will schedule an inspection quickly – as early as the same day. Finally, if an employer isn’t cooperative enough during a phone/fax investigation, it may escalate to an in-person visit.

If the OSHA investigator finds a violation during their visit, they will issue a citation. The consequences of the violation will vary based on its nature. There are six citation categories used by OSHA:

• Serious Violations that have a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm
• Other-than-Serious Violations, which present a direct threat to employee safety or health but to a lesser extent
• De Minimus Violations, which are technical and don’t directly impact safety or health
• Willful Violations, which an employer commits knowingly or with obvious indifference
• Failure to Abate Violations, when an employer fails to meet a previous citation deadline
• Repeated Violations that are substantially similar to citations issued in the past 3 years

As you can see, the employer’s intent and attitude are taken into account. Citations always require corrective actions to bring the workplace back into full OSHA compliance. Serious, willful, failure to abate, or repeated offenses may also come with fines and other penalties.

OSHA Act and Requirements

OSHA has one more trick up its sleeve to ensure compliance with OSHA regulations: worker education.

In order to make sure that workers can exercise the rights and protections they’re due under the OSH Act, OSHA first has to make sure that the workforce is aware of them. They require employers to provide OSHA training and courses on regulations, worker rights, employer responsibilities, various hazards, and ways to protect yourself.

If you’re an employer, OSHA's worker training requirements can feel vague and subjective.  OSHA says employers need to train their workers in everything they need to know to do their job safely, no more and no less.  While they do provide a list of training requirements by task, it’s not a comprehensive checklist.

OSHA Outreach programs are one of the tools you can use as a starting place for your workplace safety training. OSHA 10 courses provide training in some of the more universal topics that workers need to know for their industry, while OSHA 30 courses provide a more in-depth look for supervisors and managers. While neither is a comprehensive occupational safety and health training solution, an OSHA 10 or 30 course with an OSHA-authorized provider does some of the heavy lifting.

If you're a business, we can also provide the tools to enroll, track, and document the training of your entire workforce. You’ll get bulk rates on courses, a learning management and delivery platform, and a dedicated account manager to help answer your questions.

Contact us today!