Introduction to OSHA
What the OSH Act Does
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (signed December 29, 1970; effective April 28, 1971) created OSHA and gave it authority to set and enforce standards and to provide training, outreach, and compliance assistance. Coverage extends to most private-sector employers and employees. Excluded are the self-employed, farms that employ only immediate family, and state and local governments unless a federally approved State Plan covers them; federal agencies are covered under a separate rule.
The Two Employer Duties
Section 5(a)(1), the General Duty Clause, requires each employer to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. It is a gap-filler used when no specific standard applies, and the hazard must be both recognized and serious. Section 5(a)(2) requires compliance with specific standards; Section 5(b) requires employees to comply with rules that apply to their conduct.
Rights and the Numbers Candidates Miss
Employees may file complaints, participate in inspections (walkaround), review injury logs, access exposure and medical records, and are protected from retaliation under Section 11(c); retaliation complaints must be filed within 30 days. Employers must report a fatality within 8 hours and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours. Citations must be posted for 3 working days or until abated, and contested within 15 working days.
Traps and a Rule of Thumb
Traps: treating the General Duty Clause as covering every conceivable hazard; assuming public employees are always covered; swapping the 8-hour and 24-hour reporting clocks; assuming OSHA can never obtain a warrant (it may seek one if entry is refused).
Rule of thumb: remember 8–24–15–3 - 8 hours for a fatality, 24 hours for a hospitalization, 15 working days to contest, 3 working days to post.