Occupational Safety and Health Administration facts for kids

"OSHA" redirects here. For other uses, see OSHA (disambiguation).

Quick facts for kids
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Agency overview

Formed	1934; 91 years ago (1934) (as Bureau of Labor Standards) April 28, 1971
Jurisdiction	Federal Government of the United States
Headquarters	Frances Perkins Building Washington, D.C.
Annual budget	$591,787,000 (2021)
Agency executive	Vacant, Assistant Secretary
Parent department	United States Department of Labor

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a special agency in the United States Department of Labor. Its main job is to make sure workplaces are safe and healthy for everyone. OSHA was created by the United States Congress through a law called the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). President Richard M. Nixon signed this law on December 29, 1970.

OSHA's goal is to keep workers safe and healthy. It does this by setting rules, checking workplaces, and offering training and help. OSHA also protects workers who report safety problems. Studies have shown that when OSHA inspects workplaces, fewer injuries happen, and the costs of injuries go down. This happens without hurting jobs or sales.

How OSHA Started
- OSHA's Training Programs
Who OSHA Helps
Your Rights and Employer Duties at Work
Rules for a Safe Workplace
How OSHA Makes Sure Rules Are Followed
Keeping Records of Workplace Safety
Whistleblower Protection Program
Helping Workplaces Be Safer
How Well OSHA Works
OSHA Leaders
See also

How OSHA Started

Before OSHA, another group called the Bureau of Labor Standards worked on some safety issues since 1934. During World War II, many accidents happened at work. After the war, things got better, and worker unions also helped improve safety.

In the 1960s, as the economy grew, more injuries started happening again. This led to a big push for better worker safety. So, on April 28, 1971, the Occupational Safety and Health Act became law, and OSHA was created. OSHA took over many of the tasks from the old Bureau of Labor Standards.

OSHA's Training Programs

OSHA has always focused on training and helping workplaces be safer.

In 1972, the OSHA Training Institute started. It teaches people about health and safety in workplaces.
In 1978, OSHA began a program, now called the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program. This program gives money to groups that train workers and employers on how to avoid dangers at work.
Since 1982, OSHA has had the Voluntary Protection Programs. This allows workplaces to apply to be recognized as "model workplaces" if they meet high safety standards.

Who OSHA Helps

The OSH Act covers most private businesses and their workers across all 50 states. It also covers some government workers and those in certain U.S. territories. These areas include District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Wake Island, Johnston Island, and the Outer Continental Shelf.

OSHA and Private Businesses

Most private businesses in the U.S. are covered by OSHA. This can be directly by federal OSHA or through a state plan approved by OSHA.

State plans are safety programs run by individual states instead of the federal OSHA. Federal OSHA checks these state plans and helps pay for them. State programs must be at least as good as the federal OSHA program.

Here are 22 states and territories that have their own OSHA-approved safety 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.

Federal OSHA still covers some workplaces in these states, like those in shipping or on military bases.

OSHA and Government Workers

Workers for state and local governments are not covered by federal OSHA. However, they are protected if they work in states with an OSHA-approved state program. Some states have plans that only cover public sector workers. In these cases, private businesses are still under federal OSHA.

Five more states and one U.S. territory have OSHA-approved plans just for public sector workers:

Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New York, and the Virgin Islands.

OSHA and Federal Government Workers

OSHA rules apply to all federal government agencies. Leaders of federal agencies must provide safe working conditions for their employees. OSHA inspects federal buildings when workers report dangers or as part of special programs.

Federal agencies must have safety programs that meet the same rules as private businesses. OSHA can issue "virtual fines" to federal agencies. This means they announce what the fine would be if the agency were a private company. The U.S. Postal Service is covered by OSHA just like any private business.

Who OSHA Doesn't Cover

OSHA does not cover:

People who work for themselves (self-employed).
Immediate family members working on a farm.
Workplace dangers that are already regulated by another federal agency. Examples include the Mine Safety and Health Administration (for mines) or the United States Coast Guard (for certain maritime work).

Your Rights and Employer Duties at Work

Employers have a very important job: to provide a safe workplace.

Employer Duties

By law, employers must:

Provide a workplace without serious dangers.
Follow all OSHA safety and health rules.
Find and fix safety problems.
Try to remove or reduce dangers by changing how work is done. This is better than just giving workers safety gear like masks or gloves. For example, they might use safer chemicals or improve air systems.
Tell workers about chemical dangers through training, labels, and safety sheets.
Give safety training in a language and way workers can understand.
Keep good records of work-related injuries and illnesses.
Do tests in the workplace, like checking air quality, if OSHA rules require it.
Pay for most types of required safety gear, like personal protective equipment.
Provide hearing tests or other medical checks if OSHA rules require them.
Post OSHA warnings and yearly injury reports where workers can see them.
Tell OSHA within 8 hours about any workplace death. They must also report any work-related hospitalizations within 24 hours.
Clearly display the official OSHA poster that explains rights and duties.
Not punish or treat workers unfairly for using their rights, like reporting an injury.

Worker Rights

Workers have important rights too:

The right to working conditions that are not seriously harmful.
The right to file a secret complaint with OSHA to have their workplace inspected.
The right to get information and training about dangers and how to prevent harm. This training must be easy to understand.
The right to get copies of records about injuries and illnesses at their workplace.
The right to get copies of results from tests done to find dangers.
The right to get copies of their own workplace medical records.
The right to be part of an OSHA inspection and talk privately with the inspector.
The right to complain to OSHA if their employer punishes them for using their rights.
The right to complain if they are punished for being a 'whistleblower' under other federal laws that OSHA helps enforce.

Temporary Workers

Temporary workers should be treated like permanent employees. Both the company that hires them (staffing agency) and the company where they work share responsibility for their safety. Both must follow safety rules and keep temporary workers safe. OSHA can hold both companies responsible for any safety rule breaking.

Rules for a Safe Workplace

OSHA has the power to create rules for health and safety in workplaces. These rules cover things like how much of a dangerous chemical workers can be around. They also cover how workers can get information about dangers, when to use safety gear, and how to prevent falls or accidents with dangerous machines.

OSHA's rules for construction, general industry, shipping, and farming are made to protect workers from many serious dangers. For example, OSHA rules require employers to:

Provide fall protection, like safety harnesses or guardrails.
Stop cave-ins in trenches.
Prevent exposure to certain diseases.
Make sure workers are safe in small, enclosed spaces.
Prevent exposure to harmful chemicals.
Put guards on dangerous machines.
Provide respirators or other safety equipment.
Give training for dangerous jobs in a way workers can understand.

OSHA also sets limits on how much of a harmful substance, like chemicals in the air, workers can be exposed to. These are called "permissible exposure limits" (PELs). Most of OSHA's PELs were set a long time ago, in 1970. It's been hard to update them because of legal challenges from businesses.

Employers must also follow the "General Duty Clause" of the OSH Act. This rule says that employers must keep their workplaces free of serious dangers that are known. This clause is used when there isn't a specific OSHA rule for a certain danger.

OSHA has a long process to create new rules. It involves getting a lot of public input and comments. The agency must show that there's a real risk to workers and that there are ways employers can protect them.

How OSHA Makes Sure Rules Are Followed

OSHA makes sure its rules are followed by inspecting workplaces and giving out fines for breaking rules. Inspections are often planned for workplaces in very dangerous industries. They can also happen if there's a death at work, many hospitalizations, a worker complaint, or a referral from another source.

OSHA is a small agency compared to its big job. With its state partners, OSHA has about 2,400 inspectors. These inspectors cover more than 8 million workplaces with 130 million workers. In 2012, OSHA and its state partners did over 83,000 inspections. This is only a small part of all the workplaces in the U.S. One report said it would take OSHA 129 years to inspect every workplace it covers!

Enforcement is key to OSHA's work. Inspections happen without warning. They are done by trained officers and are scheduled based on these priorities (from most important to least):

Immediate danger (something that could cause serious harm right away).
Catastrophes (deaths or hospitalizations).
Worker complaints and referrals.
Targeted inspections (for specific dangers or high injury rates).
Follow-up inspections (to check if problems were fixed).

Workers or their representatives can file a complaint with OSHA if they think there's a serious danger or if their employer isn't following rules. Workers can ask for an inspection without OSHA telling their employer who complained. It's against the OSH Act for an employer to fire or punish a worker for filing a complaint or using other OSHA rights.

When an inspector finds rules broken or serious dangers, OSHA can issue warnings and fines. The warning tells the employer how to fix the problem and by what date.

OSHA's fines used to be very low. They were raised on August 2, 2016, to follow a new law. This law makes sure fines go up with inflation each year. The highest OSHA fine for a serious violation is $13,653. For repeated or intentional violations, the maximum fine is $136,532. When deciding the fine amount, OSHA looks at how serious the violation was, the size of the business, if the employer tried to do good, and if they had past violations. Employers can challenge any part of the warning. Workers can only challenge the deadline for fixing a problem.

OSHA has 10 regional offices and 85 local offices across the U.S. These are in cities like Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Keeping Records of Workplace Safety

Keeping track of workplace injuries and illnesses is important for preventing future problems. OSHA has rules that require certain employers in dangerous industries to keep records of serious work-related injuries and illnesses. This information helps employers, workers, and OSHA understand dangers and make workplaces safer.

Employers with more than ten employees in certain industries must record serious injuries and illnesses using special OSHA forms. You can find information about these forms and rules on OSHA's website.

Whistleblower Protection Program

OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program (WPP) protects workers who report rule-breaking. This includes rules about airlines, product safety, the environment, and more. Unlike safety complaints, whistleblower investigations are not anonymous because the employer needs to know who made the complaint to respond.

WPP investigators are neutral. They don't work for the worker or the employer. Their job is to gather facts and figure out if an employer unfairly punished a worker for reporting a problem. Over the years, OSHA's WPP has protected workers' rights to speak up without fear of being punished.

Helping Workplaces Be Safer

Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star Demonstration banner

OSHA has many programs to help workplaces improve safety.

The OSHA Training Institute, started in 1972, trains people who work in health and safety. The Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, which began in 1978, gives money to groups that teach workers and employers how to find and fix dangers at work.

The Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) recognizes businesses and government agencies that have excellent safety programs. These workplaces have fewer injuries and illnesses than average. In VPP, employers, workers, and OSHA work together to prevent accidents by focusing on:

Stopping dangers.
Analyzing the workplace for risks.
Training.
Management's commitment to safety and worker involvement.

OSHA's On-site Consultation Program offers free and private advice to small and medium-sized businesses. They focus on high-danger workplaces first. Each year, this program helps over 1.5 million workers by visiting more than 29,000 small businesses. These visits are separate from inspections, so they don't lead to fines. Consultants from state agencies or universities help employers find dangers, follow OSHA rules, and set up safety programs.

Some excellent employers can join OSHA's Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). To join, they must have a full consultation visit, fix all dangers, and have a good safety program. Workplaces in SHARP are usually not chosen for regular inspections while their certification is valid.

OSHA also provides help through its offices and website. It offers hundreds of publications in different languages and online safety topics. This information helps employers and workers understand specific dangers and their rights and duties.

How Well OSHA Works

A study in 2012 found that OSHA's random inspections led to a "9.4% drop in injury rates" and a "26% cut in injury costs" for the businesses inspected. The study also found that these improvements didn't hurt jobs, sales, or the businesses themselves. Another study in 2020 found that when OSHA announced the names of companies that broke safety rules, other companies became more careful and had fewer injuries.

There's often a discussion about the cost of OSHA rules versus how much they help by reducing injuries and deaths. A 1995 study found that OSHA's methods for making rules are reliable, even though different groups might have different ideas.

OSHA has been criticized for its penalties not being strong enough, especially criminal penalties. The highest criminal penalty is a misdemeanor with a maximum of 6 months in jail. Because of this, OSHA has worked with the Department of Justice to go after some serious criminal cases. They also work with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which can issue much higher fines. Some lawmakers and worker groups are trying to change the OSH Act to make serious violations that cause a worker's death a felony with much higher penalties. Some local prosecutors are even charging company leaders with serious crimes like manslaughter when their carelessness leads to a worker's death.

A New York Times investigation in 2003 found that between 1982 and 2002, 2,197 workers died in 1,242 incidents where OSHA found employers had intentionally broken safety laws. In 93% of these cases, OSHA did not send the case to the U.S. Department of Justice for criminal charges. The investigation found that OSHA often didn't pursue charges even when employers had broken the same safety rule before, or when many workers died.

OSHA has also been criticized for taking too long to create new rules. For example, regarding dangerous dust explosions, one expert said that OSHA's attitude of "no new regulation" meant that industries weren't pushed enough to follow rules.

OSHA Leaders

The person in charge of OSHA is called the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.

No.	Administrator	Term start	Term end
1	George Guenther	April 1971	January 1973
Acting	M. Chain Robbins	January 1973	April 1973
2	John Stender	April 1973	July 1975
Acting	Bert Concklin & Marshall Miller	July 1975	December 1975
3	Morton Corn	December 1975	January 1977
Acting	Bert Concklin	January 1977	April 1977
4	Eula Bingham	April 1977	January 1981
Acting	David Zeigler	January 1981	March 1981
5	Thorne G. Auchter	March 1981	April 1984
Acting	Patrick Tyson	April 1984	July 1984
Recess	Robert A. Rowland	July 1984	July 1985
Acting	Patrick Tyson	July 1985	May 1986
6	John A. Pendergrass	May 1986	March 1989
Acting	Alan C. McMillan	April 1989	October 1989
7	Gerard F. Scannell	October 1989	January 1992
Acting	Dorothy L. Strunk	January 1992	January 1993
Acting	David Zeigler	January 1993	November 1993
8	Joseph A. Dear	November 1993	January 1997
Acting	Gregory R. Watchman	January 1997	November 1997
9	Charles N. Jeffress	November 1997	January 2001
Acting	R. Davis Layne	January 2001	August 2001
10	John L. Henshaw	August 2001	December 2004
Acting	Jonathan L. Snare	January 2005	April 3, 2006
11	Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.	April 3, 2006	November 7, 2008
Acting	Thomas M. Stohler	November 7, 2008	January 20, 2009
Acting	Donald Shalhoub	January 20, 2009	April 2009
Acting	Jordan Barab	April 2009	December 8, 2009
12	David Michaels	December 8, 2009	January 10, 2017
Acting	Dorothy Dougherty	January 2017	July 2017
Acting	Loren Sweatt	August 2017	March 2019
Acting	James Frederick	January 21, 2021	November 2, 2021
13	Douglas L. Parker	November 3, 2021	January 20, 2025
Acting	Amanda Wood Laihow	March 12, 2025	present