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Introduction to OSHA

OSH Act: Need for Legislation

     More then 90 million Americans spend their days on the job. They are our most valuable national resource. Yet, until 1970, no uniform and comprehensive provisions existed for their protection against workplace safety and health hazards.

In 1970, Congress considered annual figures such as these:

• Job related accidents accounted for more than 14,000 worker deaths;
• Nearly 2.5 million workers were disabled. Ten times as many person-days were lost from job-related disabilities as from strikes;
• Estimated new cases of occupational diseases totaled 300,000.

     In terms of lost production and wages, medical expenses and disability compensation, the burden on the nation’s commerce was staggering. Human cost was beyond calculation. Therefore, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act) was passed by a bipartisan Congress "...to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources."

     Today, the burden of occupational illness continues to plague the country. J. Paul Leigh of the economics department at San Jose State University, California, stated that in 1992, 6,500 Americans died as a result of work-related causes. More than 13 million more were injured during the same year. These numbers average 18 deaths and 36,000 injuries every day. Overall, occupational illnesses and injuries cost the country $178 million daily in indirect costs; lost wages totaled $106 billion ($290 million each day); and the overall costs of work-related injuries and illnesses totaled $171 billion that year.

OSHA’s Purpose

     Under the Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created within the Department of Labor to:

• Encourage employers and employees to reduce workplace hazards and to implement new or to 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 dependent 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 job-related 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; and
• Provide for the development, analysis, evaluation and approval of state occupational safety and health programs.

     While OSHA continually reviews and redefines specific standards and practices, its basic purposes remain constant. OSHA strives to implement its mandate fully and firmly with fairness to all concerned. In all its’ procedures, from developing standards through implementation and enforcement, OSHA guarantees employers and employees the right to be fully informed, to participate actively and to appeal actions.

The Act’s Coverage
     In general, coverage of the Act extends to all employers and their employees in the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and all other territories under Federal Government jurisdiction. Coverage is provided either directly by federal OSHA or through an OSHA-approved state program.

     As defined by the Act, an employer is any "person engaged in a business affecting commerce who has employees, but does not include the United States or any State or political subdivision of a State." Therefore, the Act applies to employers and employees in such varied fields as manufacturing, construction, longshoring, agriculture, law and medicine, charity and disaster relief, organized labor and private education. Such coverage includes religious groups to the extent that they employ workers for secular purposes.

The following are not covered under the Act:

• Self-employed persons;
• Farms where 10 or fewer immediate members of the farm employer’s family are employed; and
• Working conditions regulated by other federal agencies under other federal statutes.

     Even when another federal agency is authorized to regulate safe and healthy working conditions in a particular industry, if it does not do so in specific areas, OSHA standards apply.

     As OSHA develops effective safety and health standards of its own, standards issued under the following laws administered by the Department of Labor are superseded: the Walsh-Healey Act, the Service Contract Act, the Construction Safety Act, the Arts and Humanities Act and the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.

Basic Provisions/Requirements
     The Act assigns OSHA two principal functions: setting standards and conducting workplace inspections to assure employers are complying with the standards and providing a safe and healthy workplace. OSHA standards may require conditions, adoption or use of one 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, to eliminate hazardous conditions to the extent possible and to comply with the standards. Compliance may include ensuring that employees have and use personal protective equipment when when required. Employees must comply with all rules and regulations that are applicable to their own actions and conduct.

General Duty Clause
     Where OSHA has not promulgated a specific standard, employers are responsible for complying with OSH Act’s general duty clause. The general duty clause of the Act [Section 5(a)(1)] states that each employer "shall furnish... a place of employment which is free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his (or her) employees."

Provisions for Federal Employees
     Under the Act, federal agency heads are responsible for providing safe and healthful working conditions for their employees The Act requires agencies to comply with standards consistent with those OSHA issues for private sector employers. OSHA conducts federal workplace inspections in response to employers’ reports of hazards and as part of a special program which identifies federal workplaces with higher than average rates of injuries and illnesses.

     Federal agency heads are required to operate comprehensive occupational safety and health programs that include: recording and analyzing injury/illness data, providing training to all personnel, and conducting self-inspections to ensure compliance with OSHA standards. OSHA conducts comprehensive evaluations of these programs to assess their effectiveness.

     OSHA’s federal sector authority is different from that in the private sector in several ways. The most significant difference is that OSHA cannot propose monetary penalties against another federal agency for failure to comply with OSHA standards. Instead, compliance issues unresolved at the local level are raised to higher organizational levels until resolved. Another significant difference is that OSHA does not have authority to protect federal employee "whistleblowers." However, the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 affords present and former federal employees (other than those in the U.S. Postal Service and certain intelligence agencies) an opportunity to file their reports of reprisal with the Office of Special Counsel, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, 1120 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20419, (800) 209-8960.

Provisions for State and Local Governments
OSHA provisions do not apply to state and local governments in their role as employers. The Act does provide that any state desiring to gain OSHA-approval for its private sector occupational safety and health program must provide a program that covers its state and local government workers and that it is at least as effective as its program for private sector employees. State plans may also cover only public sector employees.

CONN-OSHA
     The Connecticut Department of Labor’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is referred to as CONN-OSHA. CONN-OSHA administers Connecticut’s Public Employer Only State Plan and enforces occupational safety and health regulations as they apply to all state and municipal employees.

    In addition to having enforcement responsibilities in the public sector, CONN-OSHA provides consultation services to private and public employers. The mission of the Connecticut Consultation Program is to provide timely, courteous and professional service to Connecticut employers and employees so that they may recognize and control workplace hazards and prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities. These consultations are provided upon request of the employer and at no charge. The consultants will provide assistance in developing and implementing effective safety and health programs.

     CONN-OSHA also offers comprehensive training and education programs covering all aspects of occupational safety and health. Provided at no charge, programs are designed in conjunction with consultative and enforcement activities.

    For more information on CONN-OSHA programs and services, call (860) 566-4550.

© 2003 Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA). All rights reserved.

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