A Basic Guide To OSHA Requirements

A Basic Guide To OSHA Requirements

Wether you are starting your first business, expanding into new markets or just need to freshen up on safety requirements The Basic Guide to OSHA Requirements is the tool for you. This book is an informal introduction to OSHA, covering basic requirements and training topics. Get started on the path to a safe and compliant workplace today.

What is OSHA?

The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was established in 1970 by the OSH Act with the aim of reducing workplace injury and illness. The act gave OSHA regulation over most private sector workplaces. The act also permitted states to develop and approve their own plans to cover private sector employees as long as they cover public sector employees and they provide protection equivalent to that provided under Federal OSHA regulations. In states creating their own regulations a portion of the cost is covered by the federal government. There are currently 22 States and jurisdictions operating complete state plans (covering both the private and public employees) and 5 - Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and the US Virgin Islands - operating partial state plans (covering only public sector employees). In those five states, private sector employment remains under Federal OSHA jurisdiction. In signing the OSH Act, President Richard Nixon called it "...one of the most important pieces of legislation... ever passed by the Congress of the United States." Morton Corn, the OSHA administrator under President Gerald Ford, said OSHA "was the instrument of a revolutionary law... a new right in the Bill of Rights - the right to a safe and healthful workplace." Forty years after the adoption of the act, U.S. workplace fatalities have decreased by more than 65 percent. At the same time, U.S. employment has almost doubled.

Why does my company need to comply with OSHA regulations?

Your company needs to comply with OSHA requirements to protect your employees from injury and your company from OSHA fines. Through independent studies OSHA has confirmed employers who have in place a safety and health training program experience a 52 percent lower rate of "injury with days away" than employers without a program. A second study of private industry employers by OSHA found even more benefits to a safety training program.
Here are a few highlights of those programs:

• Average Sales rose 7.5 percent
• Manufacturing defects and waste dropped from $2.7 million in 2001 to $435,000 in 2005
• Improved decision-making
• Experience Modification Rate dropped by 45%

• Increased productivity
• Higher quality products
• Increased morale
• Better labor/management relations
• Reduced turnover
• Better use of human resources

Do I need to read every section?

If you are serious about safety and compliance we recommend you read every chapter. We offer a printable pdf version of this book for ease of use in the workplace.