OSHA

U.S. Department of Labor

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
ADMINISTRATION (OSHA)

INTRODUCTION:
More than 90 million Americans spend their days on the job. Until 1970,
no uniform and comprehensive provisions existed for their protection
against workplace safety and health hazards.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH ACT) was approved by
Congress in 1970, to assure so far as possible every working man and
woman safe and healthful working conditions.
In general, coverage of the Act extends to all employers in the 50 states,
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and all other territories under
Federal Government.
DEFINITION:
OSHA:

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

US Department of Labor.

Employers:

As defined by the Act, an employer is any

person engaged in a business affecting
commerce who has employees.

A competent person:

is defined as one who is capable of identifying

existing and predictable hazards in the
surroundings or working conditions which are
unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to
employees, and who has authorization to take
prompt corrective measures to eliminate them

CFR:

Code of Federal Regulations is a codification

of the general and permanent rules published in
the Federal Register by Executive departments
and agencies of the Federal Government. The
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code is divided into 50 titles which represent

broad areas subject to Federal regulations. Each
title is divided into chapters which usually bear
the name of the issuing agency. Each chapter is
further subdivided into parts covering specific
regulatory areas. Based on this breakdown,
OSHA is designated title 29-Labor, Chapter
XVII.
Under Chapter XVII, the regulations are broken down into parts.
(Occupational Safety and Health Standards)
For example:

Part 1910: General Industry Standards

Part 1926: Construction Safety Standards

Under each part, such as Part 1910, major blocks information are broken
into subparts.
The major subparts in the 1910 standards include:

Subpart D
Subpart E
Subpart F

Subpart G

Subpart H
Subpart I
Subpart J
Subpart K
Subpart L
Subpart M

Subpart N
Subpart O
Subpart P

Subpart Q
Subpart R
Subpart S
Subpart Z

Walking Working Surfaces

Means of Egress
Powered Platforms, Manlifts, and VehicleMounted Work Platforms
Occupational Health and Environmental
Control
Hazardous Materials
Personal Protective Equipment
General Environmental Controls
Medical and First Aid
Fire Protection
Compressed Gas and Compressed Air
Equipment
Materials Handling and Storage
Machinery and Machine Guarding
Hand and Portable Powered Tools and Other
Hand-Held Equipment
Welding, Cutting and Brazing
Special Industries
Electrical
Toxic and Hazardous Substances
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Each subpart is further broken down into sections. Let us look at one
subpart in detail: Subpart D Walking Working Surfaces.
The index of Subpart D is shown below:

SUBPART D WALKING WORKING SURFACES

1910.21
1910.22
1910.23
1910.24
1910.25
1910.26
1910.27
1910.28
1910.29
1910.30
1910.31
1910.32

Definitions
General requirements
Guarding floor and wall openings and holes
Fixed industrial stairs
Portable wood ladders
Portable metal ladders
Fixed ladders
Safety requirements for scaffolding
Manually propelled mobile ladder stands and scaffolds
(towers)
Other working surfaces
Sources of standards
Standards organizations

OSHA PURPOSE:
Under the OSH ACT (1970), the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) was created within the Department of Labor to:
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2-

3-

456-

Encourage employers and employees to reduce workplace hazards

and to implement new or improve existing safety and health
programs.
Provide for research in occupational safety and health to develop
innovative ways of dealing with occupational safety and health
problems.
Establish separate but dependant responsibilities and rights for
employers and employees for the achievement of better safety and
health conditions.
Maintain a reporting and record-keeping system to monitor jobrelated injuries and illnesses.
Establish training programs to increase the number and competence
of occupational safety and health personnel.
Develop mandatory job safety and health standards and enforce
them effectively
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7-

Provide for the development, analysis, evaluations and approval of

state occupational safety and health programs.

OSHA STANDARDS:
In carrying out its duties, OSHA is responsible for promulgating legally
enforceable standards. OSHA standards may require conditions, or the
adoption or use of or more practices, means, methods or processes
reasonably necessary and appropriate to protect workers on the job. It is
the responsibility of employers to become familiar with standards
applicable to their establishments and to ensure that employees have and
use personal protective equipment when required for safety.
Employees must comply with all rules and regulation which are
applicable to their own actions and conduct.
The OSHA standards were taken from three sources: consensus
standards, proprietary standards, and federal laws in effect when the
Occupational Safety and Health Act become law.
1-

Consensus Standards: are developed by industry-wide standarddeveloping organizations and are discussed and substantially
agreed upon through consensus by industry. OSHA
has
incorporated the standards of the two primary standards groups, the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA), into its set of standards.

2-

Proprietary Standards: are prepared by professional experts

within specific industries, professional societies, and associations.
The proprietary standards are determined by a straight membership
vote, not by consensus. (An example is the Compressed Gas
Association)

3-

Federal Law:
Some preexisting federal laws are enforced by
OSHA, including the Federal Supply Contracts; the Federal
Service Contracts Act; the Contract Work Hours and Safety
Standards Act; and the National Foundation on the Arts and
Humanities Act. Standards issued under these Acts are now
enforced in all industries where they apply.

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Horizontal and Vertical Standards:

Standards are sometimes referred to as being either horizontal or
vertical in their application. Most standards are horizontal or general
which means they apply to any employer in any industry. Standards
relating to fire protection, working surfaces and first aid are examples of
horizontal standards.
Some standards, though, are relevant only to a particular industry, and are
called vertical, or particular standards. Examples are standards applying
to the longshoring industry or the construction industry, and to the special
industries covered in Subpart R of 1910.
Recordkeeping and Reporting: (29 CFR 1904)
Both the Occupational Safety and Health Act and 29 CFR 1904 require
employers to prepare and maintain occupational injury and illness
records. The purpose of these records is to:

Provide injury and illness information which is used by OSHA to

measure and direct the agencys efforts.

Enable employees and employers to identify types and causes of

injuries and illnesses at each establishment.

Make employers and employees more safety conscious.

Encourage employee and employer cooperation.

A.

OSHA Log 200

The 200 log is used to record and maintain information about
employee injuries and illnesses at each employers establishment.
The form itself is divided into three general sections: descriptive
(e.g. name, date of injury/onset of illness, regular job
title/department, etc.), injury (e.g. date of death, recordable, lost
time, ect) and illness (type of illness, date of death, lost time,
amount of lost time, etc.). Following is a list of guidelines which
are to be used for maintaining an OSHA 200 log:

Must be maintained on a calendar year basis (not fiscal)

Cases must be recorded within six days of receiving information
that a recordable case has occurred
A 200 log should be retained for five years following the calendar
year to which it relates.
Employers are also responsible for maintaining the logs during
those five years and required to add or delete cases as necessary.
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B.

OSHA Form 101

If an injury or illness is recordable, a supplementary form (e.g.
OSHA 101) must be completed. This form provides more
information about the case and the person involved. Such
information as the events leading up to the injury or illness, body
parts affected, object(s) or substance(s) involved, etc. are required
to be on this form.
Following is a list of guidelines which are to be used for
maintaining supplementary records:

C.

Cases must be recorded within six days of receiving

information that a recordable case has occurred.
Each establishment must maintain a log.
Records must be retained for five years following the
calendar year to which they relate.

Annual Summary

The employer is responsible for preparing an annual summary of injuries

and illnesses that occurred during the calendar year. The annual summary
is a total of all the columns to the right of the dotted line on the OSHA
200 form. The OSHA 200 may even be used as the summary, or
employers may use some other equivalent form that provides the same
information. The annual summary must be:

Posted by February 1 and remain posted until March 1.

Posted in areas where other notices are normally placed.
Certified (signed) that the information is correct and complete to
the best of the employers ability.
Retained for 5 years following the calendar year to which they
relate.

If no cases are recorded during a reporting period, a summary must still

be posted. Zeros should be entered into all the columns on the total line.

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WORKPLACE INSPECTIONS
Authority to Inspect
To enforce its standards, OSHA is authorised under the Act to conduct
workplace inspections. Every establishment covered by the Act is subject
to inspection by OSHA compliance safety and health officers.
Under the Act, upon presenting appropriate credentials to the owner,
operator or agent in charge, an OSHA compliance officer is authorized
to:

Enter without delay and at reasonable times any factory, plant,

establishment, construction site or other areas, workplace, or
environment where work is performed by an employee of an
employer; and to

inspect and investigate during regular working hours, and at other

reasonable times, and within reasonable limits and in a reasonable
manner, any such place of employment and all pertinent
conditions, structures, machines, apparatus, devices, equipment and
materials therein, and to question privately any such employer,
owner, operator, agent or employee.

Inspection Priorities
OSHA has established a system of inspection priorities:
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Imminent Danger
Imminent danger situations are given top priority. An immenent
danger is any condition where there is reasonable certainty the a
danger exists that can e expected to cause death or serious physical
harm immediately, or before the danger can be eliminated through
normal enforcement procedures.
Serious physical harm is any type of harm that could cause
permanent or prolonged damage to the body or which, while not
damaging the body on a prolonged basis, could cause such
temporary disability as to require in-patient hospital treatment.
OSHA considers that permanent or prolonged damage has
occurred when, for example, a part of the body is crushed or
severed; an arm, leg or finger is amputateed; or sight in one or both
eyes is lost.

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2-

Catastrophes and Fatal Accidents

Second priority is given to investigation of fatalities and
catastrophes resulting in hospitalization of three or more
employees. Such situations must be reported to OSHA by the
employer within 8 hours. Investigations are made to determine if
OSHA standards were violated and to avoid recurrence of similar
accidents.

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Employee Complaints
Third priority is given to employee complaints of alleged violation
of standards or of unsafe or unhealthful working conditions.

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Programmed High-Hazard Inspections

Next in priority are programmed, or planned, inspections aimed at
specific high-hazard industries, occupations or health substances.

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Follow-up Inspections
A follow-up inspection determines whether previously cited
violations have corrected.
CITATIONS AND PENALTIES
Citations issued by the Area Director
After the compliance officer reports findings, the area director
determines what citations, if any will be issued, and what penalties,
if any, will be proposed.
Citations inform the employer and employees of the regulations
and standards alleged to have been violated and of the proposed
length of time set for their abatement. The employer will receive
citations and notices of proposed penalties by certified mail. The
employer must post a copy of each citation at or near the place a
violation occurred, for three days or until the violation is abated,
whichever is longer.
Penalties:
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Other Than Serious Violation: A violation that has a direct

relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not
cause death or serious physical harm. A proposed penalty of
up to $7.000 for each violation is discretionary. A penalty
for an other-than- serious violation may be adjusted
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downward by as much as 95 percent, depending on the

employers good faith (demonstrated efforts to comply with
the Act).
2-

Serious Violation A violation where there is substantial

probability that death or serious physical harm could result
and that the employer knew, or should have known, of the
hazard. A mandatory penalty of up to $ 7.000 for each
violation is proposed. A penalty for a serious violation may
be adjusted downward, based on the employers good faith,
history of previous violations, the gravity of the alleged
violation, and size of business.

3-

Willful Violation A violation that the employer knowingly

commits or commits with plain indifference to the law. The
employer either knows that what he or she is doing
constitutes a violation, or is aware that a hazardous condition
existed and made no reasonable effort to eliminate it.
Penalties of up to $ 70.000 may be proposed for each willful
violation, with a minimum penalty of $ 5.000 for each
violation. A proposed penalty for a willful violation may be
adjusted downward, depending on the size of the business
and its history of previous violations. Usually, no credit is
given for good faith.
If an employer is convicted of a willful violation of a
standard that has resulted in the death of an employee, the
offense is punishable by a court-imposed fine or by
imprisonment for up to six months, or both. A fine of up to $
250.000 for an individual, or $ 500.000 for a corporation,
may be imposed for a criminal conviction.

4-

Repeated Violation A violation of any standard,

regulation, rule, or order where, upon re-inspection, a
substantially similar violation can bring a fine of up to $
70.000 for each violation. To be the basis of a repeated
citation, the original citation must be final; a citation under
contest may not serve as the basis for a subsequent repeated
citation.

5-

Failure to Abate Prior Violation Failure to abate a prior

violation may bring a civil penalty of up to $ 7.000 for each
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day the violation continues beyond the prescribed abatement

date.
Additional violations for which citations proposed penalties may
be issued upon conviction:
a.

Falsifying records, reports or applications can bring a fine of

$ 10.000 or up to six months in jail, or both.

b.

Violations of posting requirements can bring a civil penalty

of up to $ 7.000.

c.

Assaulting a compliance officer, or otherwise resisting,

opposing, intimidating, or interfering with a compliance
officer while they are engaged in the performance of their
duties is a criminal offense, subject to a fine of not more than
$ 5.000 and imprisonment for not more than three years.

SERVICES AVAILABLE BY OSHA

A.

Consultation Assistance

B.

Voluntary Protection Programs

C.

Training and Education

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