OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

Occupational Health and Safety



Occupational Health and Safety

Introduction

The Occupational Safety and Health Act covers 6 million workplaces and 90 million employees in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and other U.S. territories and commonwealths. The conditions of the act do not apply to workplaces that have state or federal agency-prescribed occupational safety and health standards. To comply with OSHA requirements, employers must follow the act's two provisions: (1) to keep the workplace free of hazards likely to cause death or serious harm and (2) to abide by the implemented OSHA standards that include maintaining safe conditions and adopting safe practices to reduce workplace hazards (Various authors, 2007, 45).

The act empowers, employers, and employees in the creation of a safe, hazard-free environment. Employers are required to inform employees about their numerous rights under OSHA. Across the country, OSHA informational posters are tacked onto lunchroom bulletin boards, in coffee rooms, or in visible, high-traffic work areas. Employees have numerous rights under OSHA, including petitioning for a new standard, serving on a standards advisory committee, seeking judicial review of OSHA standards, filing a complaint with OSHA, having an employer post copies of citations, and having the employer's annual summary of injuries and illnesses posted (Stender, 1974, 641).

Background

The Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) is the federal agency charged with protecting Americans from harm in the workplace. Housed within the Department of Labor, OSHA regulates the manufacture and transport of hazardous materials in the workplace and conducts inspections to ensure employer compliance with those standards. Although OSHA is one of the 22 federal agencies participating under the National Nanotechnology Initiative, OSHA has not issued any regulations or standards specific to nanotechnology (Weil, 2001, 651).

Aims

Analyse the causation of accidents in the workplace.

Critically review mechanisms for the control of risks and the prevention of accidents within the workplace.

Develop suitable management strategies and techniques to achieve effective control and management of accidents.

Analyse and evaluate accident data.

Objectives

To evaluate approaches to the investigation and analysis of occupational accidents and dangerous occurrences.

Critically assess prevention and control strategies for occupational accidents and dangerous occurrences.

Apply effective techniques for controlling occupational accidents and dangerous occurrences.

Evaluate the costs of accidents dangerous health and dangerous occurrences.

Discussion

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2007, approximately 4.6 of every 100 employees experienced a workplace-related injury or illness—the lowest reported job injury rate since 1973. The federal agency responsible for setting workplace safety standards, conducting workplace inspections, and imposing employer fines is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA is housed in the Department of Labor, with the secretary of labor having the primary accountability for the agency. OSHA has more than 2,000 employees, including 1,100 people who served as the inspectors responsible for inspecting 38,579 workplaces in 2006. While OSHA is regularly in the news whenever workplace safety issues erupt, the full range of its activities and responsibilities may be less well-known, among both those who write the news and news ...