Laws and Regulations

LAWS AND REGULATIONS
The impetus for passing the Occupational Safety and Health Act, or OSH Act,
was that workplace accidents in the United States were causing an average of
14,000 deaths each year. Each year, 2.5 million workers are disabled in
occupational accidents and approximately 300,000 new cases of occupational
diseases occur annually.
OSHA's mission is to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for all
American workers and to protect their valuable capabilities. The US Department
of Labor has broken this mission statement into the following specific
objectives.
 Encourage employers and employees to reduce workplace risks.

 Implement new health and safety programs.
 Improve existing health and safety programs.
 Encourage research that leads to innovative ways to address workplace
safety and health issues.
 Establish employer and employee rights to improve workplace safety and
health.
 Monitor work-related illnesses and injuries through a reporting and
record management system.
 Establish a training program to increase the number of health and safety
professionals and to permanently improve their skills.
 Establish and enforce workplace health and safety standards.
 Develop and approve state-level workplace health and safety programs.
 Monitor, analyze, and evaluate health and safety programs at the state
level.
OSH law covers all employers and all 50 states, including the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. All other territories under the jurisdiction of
the government apply with the following exceptions:
 Self-employed persons
 Family farms where they work only immediate family members
 Federal agencies are subject to other federal laws
 State and local governments
OSHA has developed standards based on recognition of the need at the request
of other federal agencies, state and local governments, other standards-setting
bodies, trade unions, and even individual private sectors. OSHA uses the
Commission's approach to develop standards. OSHA's Standing Committees are
the National Advisory Board on Occupational Safety and Health and the
Construction Advisory Board on Health and Safety. OSHA can take three
different types of actions against standards. Criteria can be adopted, modified,
or abolished. Before performing any of these actions, OSHA must publish its
purpose in the official bulletin.
OSHA has two options to meet this requirement.
 Instructions for creating the proposed rule

 Advance notice for creating the proposed rule.
Once the criteria are passed, it will be effective from the due date. However,
anyone who opposes the norm of servicing the geographic area in which the
plaintiff resides, or trades may appeal to the Court of Appeals. The appeal
paper must start within 60 days of standard approval. Employers may not be
able to comply with new standards immediately but may require temporary
changes if time permits. OSHA offers such variations for up to a year.
Source: rcahmw.gov.uk
Employers must prove their commitment to compliance and take the necessary
steps to keep their employees safe while working towards compliance.
Employers who feel that their workplace already exceeds the new standard
requirements can request permanent changes and must provide evidence to
OSHA for inspection. Employees should be informed about their right to apply
for diversification and request hearings.
In addition to setting standards and checking compliance, OSHA provides

services to help employers meet the latest health and safety standards. The
service is generally free and is particularly targeted at small businesses that use
hazardous processes and materials. Services provided by OSHA include
counseling, self-assessment programs, and training/education. OSHA is not
without slander.
Criticism of OSHA takes many forms, depending on the critic's point of view.
Some see OSHA as a formidable bureaucracy with little or no sensitivity to the
needs of employers struggling to survive in a highly competitive market. Others
call Osha a coward and claim that it does not work well. At different times and
in different places, both approaches were probably at least partially correct.
Other federal agencies and organizations that play a key role in workplace
safety and health are the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services Department of
Occupational Safety and Health Are An independent board of members
appointed by the President and a quasi-judiciary has been empowered to
handle controversial OSHA references.
A standard is an operating principle, standard or requirement, or a combination

of them. A code is a set of standards, rules, and regulations pertaining to a
specific area. Standards and codes play an important role in modern safety and
health management and engineering. The basic legal principles that safety and
health professionals should be familiar with are:
 Negligence
 Liability
 Care
 Ability to pay
 Damages
 Immediate cause
 Recklessness / Driving
 Misconduct
 Probability

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LAWS AND REGULATIONS

 Encourage employers and employees to reduce workplace risks.

OSHA has two options to meet this requirement.

 Instructions for creating the proposed rule

In addition to setting standards and checking compliance, OSHA provides

A standard is an operating principle, standard or requirement, or a combination

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