In order to ensure the health and safety of America's workers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was established by setting and enforcing standards. It aims to provide training and outreach to workers so that they can protect themselves from work related hazards. Here are a few facts that will help you know OSHA better:
- OSHA was created in the year 1971 by Congress. The latter gave it the mission of avoiding injuries, illnesses and deaths that are related to work and work places in the United States.
- Right from the time OSHA has been incepted, the rate of of occupational deaths has gone down by 50%. Also, all the work related injuries have been declined by 40%.
- There were around 5.7 million occupational illnesses and injuries among the U.S. workers in the year 1999.
- During the financial year of 2002, OSHA inspected around 37,493 workplaces. There are other 26 states that conducted their own OSHA programs. These states carried out an additional 58,402 inspections.
- The top inspection priority of OSHA is the reports of situations that can pose serious dangers to the workers. The next in the list are the accidents and fatalities that have sent 3 or more workers to the hospital. The third in this list is employee complaints which is followed from referrals from other government agencies. Targeted inspections are carried out on industries that are known for high injury and illnesses rates.
- The penalties imposed by OSHA can range up to $70,000. This depends on how likely a violation is to result in serious harm to the workers. Repeated violations are liable to penalties up to $70,000.
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