Free Essay On Occupational Safety And Health Act (Osha)

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, otherwise known as the OSHA Act encompasses all employers and their employees all over the 50 states of the United States of America including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories outside mainland USA. The Act further stipulates that the coverage may be directly provided by the federal OSHA or by a state-approved safety and health plan approved by OSHA. In this Act, an employer is defined as one who has people under his employ, except those employed by the United States federal or state government or any division thereof. Industries covered by this Act are those engaged with food production/farming, manufacturing, construction, legal offices, companies which provide health care, operations which deal with giving aid and assistance during disasters, labor organizations and non-government funded educational institutions.
Self-employed persons, farm owners who employ his immediate family members, those employed in industries which require other specific worker safety conditions such as those in mining and those engaged in the manufacture of nuclear weapons, and employees of the state and local governments are not covered by OSHA. However, the employees of the U.S. Postal Service are covered by OSHA.
The main provision of the Act is for OSHA to ensure that those covered by the Act are provided with a safe working environment. The employer should see to it that their employees are not exposed to harm or other occupational health hazards by making available to them protective gears, if necessary. Moreover, the Act allows the employees to report to OSHA any violation by their employers with regards to maintaining a safe workplace.

Works Cited

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy. "Safety and health standards: Occupational safety and health." September 2009. U.S. Department of Labor. 11 March 2015 <http://www.dol.gov/elaws/elg/osha.htm>.