Introduction to OSHA: Purpose, Rights, and the Inspection Process
Why OSHA Exists
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 created OSHA with a simple premise: employers must furnish a workplace free of recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. The General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1)) is the catch-all that applies even when no specific standard covers a hazard. A frequent trap is treating the General Duty Clause as a first resort; questions usually expect it to be cited only when no specific standard applies.
Worker Rights and the Anti-Retaliation Rule
Candidates should be able to name the core rights: to receive safety training in a language you understand, to request an inspection, to see citations and injury logs, to participate in inspections, and to be free from retaliation for exercising these rights. Remember the reporting windows: an employee may file a complaint with OSHA within 30 days of retaliation, and fatalities must be reported to OSHA within 8 hours, while in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, or eye losses must be reported within 24 hours.
How Inspections Are Prioritized
OSHA does not inspect everything. Priorities run roughly: imminent danger, fatalities and severe-injury reports, employee complaints, programmed (targeted) inspections, and follow-ups. In a typical inspection the compliance officer opens with a credentials presentation, conducts a walkaround, and holds a closing conference. Employees may request a representative accompany the officer.
Rule of Thumb
When a question asks "what should the worker do first," choose the answer that protects the worker and uses the internal chain-report the hazard to the employer, and escalate to OSHA if it is not corrected. Self-help refusals of work are narrow and generally require a genuine imminent-danger belief with no time to have the hazard corrected.
Common Traps
- Confusing the 8-hour fatality clock with the 24-hour hospitalization clock.
- Assuming OSHA must inspect every complaint; many are resolved by phone or fax.
- Believing retaliation protections apply only to unionized workers-they apply to all covered employees.