Employers have the responsibility to provide a safe workplace.[6]​.

By law, employers must provide workers with workplaces that are safe and follow OSHA safety and health standards. Employers must find and correct safety and health problems. Additionally, OSHA requires that employers first try to eliminate or reduce hazards by making feasible changes in working conditions, rather than relying on protective equipment such as gloves, masks or earplugs. In addition, they are examples of effective ways to reduce risks: switching to safer chemicals, adding processes that contain harmful gases, or using ventilation systems to clean the air.

Employers must:.

workers have the right to:[13]​.

Temporary workers must be treated as permanent employees. Employment agencies and host employers share a joint responsibility for temporary workers. Therefore, both entities are obliged to comply with health and safety requirements at work and to guarantee the safety and health of workers. OSHA could hold both the host and temporary employers responsible for violating any conditions.[15]​.

The OSH Act gives OSHA the authority to issue workplace safety and health 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 hazards and falls from operating work equipment.

OSHA's current construction, general industrial, marine and agricultural standards are intended to protect workers from a wide range of serious hazards. Some examples of OSHA standards are requirements for employers to: provide fall protection such as harness safety; prevent landslides; prevent exposure to communicable diseases; ensure the safety of workers entering restricted areas; prevent exposure to hazardous chemicals; put safety on dangerous machines; provide respirators and other safety equipment, and provide training for hazardous jobs in a language and vocabulary understandable by workers.

OSHA sets maximum exposure limits to protect workers from the harmful health effects of certain substances, including limits on air pollution with hazardous substances. Most of these limits were introduced shortly after the OSH Act went into effect in 1970. The industry has managed to avoid the introduction of more stringent limits by going to court, so the limits have not been updated since 1971. Alternatively, the agency has published exposure limit recommendations with the intention of better protecting workers.

Employers must also comply with the General Duties Clause of the OSH Act. This clause requires employers to keep workplaces free of noticeable hazards. It is usually cited generically in cases where there are no specific OSHA standards.

In its early years of operation, OSHA was able to adopt regulations based on the regulations of some standardization organizations, such as the American Governmental Conference on Industrial Hygiene, without having to go through all the typical requirements of lawmaking. OSHA has the authority to promulgate standards that prescribe legally enforceable methods for employers to protect their workers from hazards. Before OSHA issues any standard, it must go through an extensive process that includes public engagement, substantial notice, and comment. The agency must demonstrate that there are significant risks to workers, and that there are possible measures that employers can take to protect them.

In 2000, OSHA promulgated a standard on ergonomics. In March 2001, Congress voted to repeal the rule through the Congressional Review Act. The repeal, one of the first major legislative decisions signed by President George W. Bush, is the only case in which Congress has successfully used the Congressional Review Act to block a regulation.

Since 2001, OSHA has issued the following standards:.

2002: Evacuation routes, emergency plans and fire prevention plans.

2004: Commercial diving operations.

2004: Fire Protection in Shipyards.

2006: Occupational exposure to hexavalent chromium.

2006: Protection factors assigned for Respiratory Protective Equipment.

2007: Standard electrical installation.

2007: Personal Protective Equipment Payment (Clarification).

2008: Tandem vertical lifts.

2010: Cranes and derricks in construction.

2010: General Working Conditions in Shipyards.

2012: Update of the Risk Communication Standard.

2014: New registration and reporting requirements for employers.

2014: Review of the generation, transmission and distribution of electrical energy; electrical protection equipment.

2016: Occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silicon oxides.

2016: Improved tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses.

2016: Update to standards on walking and working surfaces for the industry in general, as well as on fall protection.

OSHA is responsible for enforcing its standards in regulated entities. Safety compliance officers and health officers conduct inspections and assess fines for violations of regulations. Inspections are planned for workplaces in especially dangerous industries. Inspections can also be triggered by a workplace fatality, multiple hospitalizations, worker complaints or referrals.

OSHA is a small agency compared to its mission: With its partners in each state, OSHA has approximately 2,400 inspectors covering more than 8 million workplaces and 130 million contract workers. In fiscal year 2012 (ended September 30), OSHA and its partners in each state conducted more than 83,000 workplace inspections across the United States, just a fraction of the nation's workplaces. According to an AFL-CIO report, it would take OSHA 129 years to inspect all workplaces.[16]​.

Enforcement is a very important part of OSHA's efforts to reduce workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Inspections begin without prior notice, and are carried out through on-site investigations or by telephone or fax. They are conducted by trained compliance officers and are scheduled based on the following priorities, in descending order: imminent danger; catastrophes – fatalities or hospitalizations; worker complaints and referrals; Specific inspections due to special risks, high injury rates and follow-up of a previous inspection.

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

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

OSHA fines are very low compared to other government agencies. OSHA's maximum fine for a serious or non-serious violation is $13,260 per violation, and the maximum fine for a repeat or intentional violation is $132,598 per violation. In determining the amount of the proposed penalty, OSHA must take into account the severity of the alleged violation and the company's employer's size, good faith, and history of prior violations. Employers have the right to challenge any part of the citation, including denying that such a violation exists.[17]​ For their part, workers only have the right to challenge the deadline set to resolve the problem. Appeals of citations are heard by the independent entity, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC).

OSHA enforces the rules through its 10 regional offices and 90 zone offices.[18] OSHA's regional offices are located in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas metropolitan area, Denver, San Francisco ("San Francisco (California)"), and Seattle.

All employers must report:.

Employers can report it to OSHA by:.

Monitoring and investigating workplace injuries and illnesses play an important role in preventing future injuries and illnesses. Under OSHA's recordkeeping regulation, certain employers in high-hazard industries are required to prepare and maintain records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses. This information is important to employers, workers, and OSHA in evaluating the safety of a workplace, understanding industry hazards, and introducing workplace protections to reduce and eliminate risks.

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. Recording forms, requirements, and exemption information can be downloaded from the OSHA website.[19]​.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the OSH Act and 21 other laws that protect workers who report violations of various laws relating to: airlines, commercial motor carriers, consumer products, the environment, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear energy, maritime activities, and financial securities.[12] Over the years, OSHA has been responsible for enforcing laws that protect the rights of workers to speak out without fear of retaliation, regardless of the relationship of these laws with occupational health and safety issues.[12]​.

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

OSHA has training, compliance assistance, and health and safety recognition programs. The OSHA Training Institute, which trains health and safety personnel from the public and private sectors, was founded in 1972.[2]​.

In 1978, the agency began a grant program, currently called the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, that trains workers and employers to reduce workplace hazards.[2]​.

OSHA began its Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) in 1982, which grants recognition as "exemplary workplaces" to those employers that meet certain requirements.[2] These are private industry employers and federal agencies that 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 deaths, injuries, and illnesses through a system that focuses on: hazard prevention and control, workplace analysis, training and management commitment, and worker participation.[20]​.

OSHA's Onsite Consultation Program[21]​ offers free, confidential advice to small and medium-sized businesses in every state across the United States, prioritizing high-risk workplaces. Each year, in response to requests from small employers seeking to create or improve their safety and health management programs, OSHA's Consultation Program conducts more than 29,000 visits to small business workplaces covering more than 1.5 million workers nationwide. Point-of-sale services are independent of 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 help establish safety and health management programs.[21]​.

Under the consultation program, certain exemplary employers may apply to participate in the OSHA Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). Participation requires, among other things: receiving a complete and detailed consultation visit, correcting all identified hazards, and developing an effective safety and health management program. Workplaces that receive SHARP recognition are exempt from scheduled inspections during the period that SHARP certification is valid.[22]​.

OSHA also offers compliance assistance through its national and area offices. Through hundreds of publications in multiple languages, web pages on safety and health topics, and through the assistance of compliance personnel, OSHA provides information to employers and workers about specific hazards and the rights and responsibilities imposed by OSHA. More information is available on the OSHA Compliance Assistance webpage Archived April 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.

A 2012 study published in the journal Science showed that OSHA's random workplace inspections led to a "9.4% drop in injury rates" and a "26% reduction in injury costs" for the companies inspected. The study found "no evidence that these improvements harmed employment, sales, credit risk estimation or business survival."

Much of the debate about OSHA regulations and enforcement policies revolves around the cost of regulations and enforcement, compared to the actual benefit of reducing worker injuries, illnesses, and deaths. A 1995 study of various OSHA standards, conducted by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA),[2] determined that OSHA "typically uses methods that provide a credible basis for the facts relevant to creating regulations." Although he determined that OSHA's findings and estimates are "subject to strong review and questioning," he said that is normal because "stakeholders and experts involved in formulating regulations have a different view of things."

OSHA has come under widespread criticism for the ineffectiveness of its penalties, particularly its criminal sanctions. The maximum penalty is a misdemeanor, with 6 months in jail.[23]​ In response to criticism, OSHA and the Department of Justice have conducted several high-profile criminal prosecutions for violations of the OSH Act. Additionally, a joint enforcement initiative has been announced by OSHA and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with the latter having the ability to issue much higher fines than OSHA. At the same time, Democratic representatives in Congress, unions, and community safety and health advocates are seeking to revise the OSH Act to make it a felony with much higher penalties to commit an intentional violation that results in the death of a worker. Some local prosecutors are charging company executives with murder and other serious crimes when criminal negligence leads to a worker's death.

During its more than 40 years of existence, OSHA has secured only 12 criminal convictions.[24]​.

OSHA has been accused of taking too long to develop new regulations.[25] Speaking about OSHA under President George W. Bush over the combustible dust explosion, Chemical Safety Commission Representative Caroly Merritt said: "What is most disappointing is this attitude of not introducing new regulations. They don't want to irritate the industry. In some cases, you have to irritate the industry to get it to comply as it should."[26] For this reason, industry associations and unions have appealed. to the courts to force OSHA to promulgate new standards, such as the hexavalent chromium standard.

Employers have the responsibility to provide a safe workplace.[6]​.

By law, employers must provide workers with workplaces that are safe and follow OSHA safety and health standards. Employers must find and correct safety and health problems. Additionally, OSHA requires that employers first try to eliminate or reduce hazards by making feasible changes in working conditions, rather than relying on protective equipment such as gloves, masks or earplugs. In addition, they are examples of effective ways to reduce risks: switching to safer chemicals, adding processes that contain harmful gases, or using ventilation systems to clean the air.

Employers must:.

workers have the right to:[13]​.

Temporary workers must be treated as permanent employees. Employment agencies and host employers share a joint responsibility for temporary workers. Therefore, both entities are obliged to comply with health and safety requirements at work and to guarantee the safety and health of workers. OSHA could hold both the host and temporary employers responsible for violating any conditions.[15]​.

The OSH Act gives OSHA the authority to issue workplace safety and health 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 hazards and falls from operating work equipment.

OSHA's current construction, general industrial, marine and agricultural standards are intended to protect workers from a wide range of serious hazards. Some examples of OSHA standards are requirements for employers to: provide fall protection such as harness safety; prevent landslides; prevent exposure to communicable diseases; ensure the safety of workers entering restricted areas; prevent exposure to hazardous chemicals; put safety on dangerous machines; provide respirators and other safety equipment, and provide training for hazardous jobs in a language and vocabulary understandable by workers.

OSHA sets maximum exposure limits to protect workers from the harmful health effects of certain substances, including limits on air pollution with hazardous substances. Most of these limits were introduced shortly after the OSH Act went into effect in 1970. The industry has managed to avoid the introduction of more stringent limits by going to court, so the limits have not been updated since 1971. Alternatively, the agency has published exposure limit recommendations with the intention of better protecting workers.

Employers must also comply with the General Duties Clause of the OSH Act. This clause requires employers to keep workplaces free of noticeable hazards. It is usually cited generically in cases where there are no specific OSHA standards.

In its early years of operation, OSHA was able to adopt regulations based on the regulations of some standardization organizations, such as the American Governmental Conference on Industrial Hygiene, without having to go through all the typical requirements of lawmaking. OSHA has the authority to promulgate standards that prescribe legally enforceable methods for employers to protect their workers from hazards. Before OSHA issues any standard, it must go through an extensive process that includes public engagement, substantial notice, and comment. The agency must demonstrate that there are significant risks to workers, and that there are possible measures that employers can take to protect them.

In 2000, OSHA promulgated a standard on ergonomics. In March 2001, Congress voted to repeal the rule through the Congressional Review Act. The repeal, one of the first major legislative decisions signed by President George W. Bush, is the only case in which Congress has successfully used the Congressional Review Act to block a regulation.

Since 2001, OSHA has issued the following standards:.

2002: Evacuation routes, emergency plans and fire prevention plans.

2004: Commercial diving operations.

2004: Fire Protection in Shipyards.

2006: Occupational exposure to hexavalent chromium.

2006: Protection factors assigned for Respiratory Protective Equipment.

2007: Standard electrical installation.

2007: Personal Protective Equipment Payment (Clarification).

2008: Tandem vertical lifts.

2010: Cranes and derricks in construction.

2010: General Working Conditions in Shipyards.

2012: Update of the Risk Communication Standard.

2014: New registration and reporting requirements for employers.

2014: Review of the generation, transmission and distribution of electrical energy; electrical protection equipment.

2016: Occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silicon oxides.

2016: Improved tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses.

2016: Update to standards on walking and working surfaces for the industry in general, as well as on fall protection.

OSHA is responsible for enforcing its standards in regulated entities. Safety compliance officers and health officers conduct inspections and assess fines for violations of regulations. Inspections are planned for workplaces in especially dangerous industries. Inspections can also be triggered by a workplace fatality, multiple hospitalizations, worker complaints or referrals.

OSHA is a small agency compared to its mission: With its partners in each state, OSHA has approximately 2,400 inspectors covering more than 8 million workplaces and 130 million contract workers. In fiscal year 2012 (ended September 30), OSHA and its partners in each state conducted more than 83,000 workplace inspections across the United States, just a fraction of the nation's workplaces. According to an AFL-CIO report, it would take OSHA 129 years to inspect all workplaces.[16]​.

Enforcement is a very important part of OSHA's efforts to reduce workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Inspections begin without prior notice, and are carried out through on-site investigations or by telephone or fax. They are conducted by trained compliance officers and are scheduled based on the following priorities, in descending order: imminent danger; catastrophes – fatalities or hospitalizations; worker complaints and referrals; Specific inspections due to special risks, high injury rates and follow-up of a previous inspection.

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

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

OSHA fines are very low compared to other government agencies. OSHA's maximum fine for a serious or non-serious violation is $13,260 per violation, and the maximum fine for a repeat or intentional violation is $132,598 per violation. In determining the amount of the proposed penalty, OSHA must take into account the severity of the alleged violation and the company's employer's size, good faith, and history of prior violations. Employers have the right to challenge any part of the citation, including denying that such a violation exists.[17]​ For their part, workers only have the right to challenge the deadline set to resolve the problem. Appeals of citations are heard by the independent entity, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC).

OSHA enforces the rules through its 10 regional offices and 90 zone offices.[18] OSHA's regional offices are located in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas metropolitan area, Denver, San Francisco ("San Francisco (California)"), and Seattle.

All employers must report:.

Employers can report it to OSHA by:.

Monitoring and investigating workplace injuries and illnesses play an important role in preventing future injuries and illnesses. Under OSHA's recordkeeping regulation, certain employers in high-hazard industries are required to prepare and maintain records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses. This information is important to employers, workers, and OSHA in evaluating the safety of a workplace, understanding industry hazards, and introducing workplace protections to reduce and eliminate risks.

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. Recording forms, requirements, and exemption information can be downloaded from the OSHA website.[19]​.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the OSH Act and 21 other laws that protect workers who report violations of various laws relating to: airlines, commercial motor carriers, consumer products, the environment, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear energy, maritime activities, and financial securities.[12] Over the years, OSHA has been responsible for enforcing laws that protect the rights of workers to speak out without fear of retaliation, regardless of the relationship of these laws with occupational health and safety issues.[12]​.

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

OSHA has training, compliance assistance, and health and safety recognition programs. The OSHA Training Institute, which trains health and safety personnel from the public and private sectors, was founded in 1972.[2]​.

In 1978, the agency began a grant program, currently called the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, that trains workers and employers to reduce workplace hazards.[2]​.

OSHA began its Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) in 1982, which grants recognition as "exemplary workplaces" to those employers that meet certain requirements.[2] These are private industry employers and federal agencies that 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 deaths, injuries, and illnesses through a system that focuses on: hazard prevention and control, workplace analysis, training and management commitment, and worker participation.[20]​.

OSHA's Onsite Consultation Program[21]​ offers free, confidential advice to small and medium-sized businesses in every state across the United States, prioritizing high-risk workplaces. Each year, in response to requests from small employers seeking to create or improve their safety and health management programs, OSHA's Consultation Program conducts more than 29,000 visits to small business workplaces covering more than 1.5 million workers nationwide. Point-of-sale services are independent of 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 help establish safety and health management programs.[21]​.

Under the consultation program, certain exemplary employers may apply to participate in the OSHA Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). Participation requires, among other things: receiving a complete and detailed consultation visit, correcting all identified hazards, and developing an effective safety and health management program. Workplaces that receive SHARP recognition are exempt from scheduled inspections during the period that SHARP certification is valid.[22]​.

OSHA also offers compliance assistance through its national and area offices. Through hundreds of publications in multiple languages, web pages on safety and health topics, and through the assistance of compliance personnel, OSHA provides information to employers and workers about specific hazards and the rights and responsibilities imposed by OSHA. More information is available on the OSHA Compliance Assistance webpage Archived April 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.

A 2012 study published in the journal Science showed that OSHA's random workplace inspections led to a "9.4% drop in injury rates" and a "26% reduction in injury costs" for the companies inspected. The study found "no evidence that these improvements harmed employment, sales, credit risk estimation or business survival."

Much of the debate about OSHA regulations and enforcement policies revolves around the cost of regulations and enforcement, compared to the actual benefit of reducing worker injuries, illnesses, and deaths. A 1995 study of various OSHA standards, conducted by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA),[2] determined that OSHA "typically uses methods that provide a credible basis for the facts relevant to creating regulations." Although he determined that OSHA's findings and estimates are "subject to strong review and questioning," he said that is normal because "stakeholders and experts involved in formulating regulations have a different view of things."

OSHA has come under widespread criticism for the ineffectiveness of its penalties, particularly its criminal sanctions. The maximum penalty is a misdemeanor, with 6 months in jail.[23]​ In response to criticism, OSHA and the Department of Justice have conducted several high-profile criminal prosecutions for violations of the OSH Act. Additionally, a joint enforcement initiative has been announced by OSHA and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with the latter having the ability to issue much higher fines than OSHA. At the same time, Democratic representatives in Congress, unions, and community safety and health advocates are seeking to revise the OSH Act to make it a felony with much higher penalties to commit an intentional violation that results in the death of a worker. Some local prosecutors are charging company executives with murder and other serious crimes when criminal negligence leads to a worker's death.

During its more than 40 years of existence, OSHA has secured only 12 criminal convictions.[24]​.

OSHA has been accused of taking too long to develop new regulations.[25] Speaking about OSHA under President George W. Bush over the combustible dust explosion, Chemical Safety Commission Representative Caroly Merritt said: "What is most disappointing is this attitude of not introducing new regulations. They don't want to irritate the industry. In some cases, you have to irritate the industry to get it to comply as it should."[26] For this reason, industry associations and unions have appealed. to the courts to force OSHA to promulgate new standards, such as the hexavalent chromium standard.