In the beginning of the 20st …show more content…
OSHA had many advocacies in order to establish this law, efforts from: employers, workers, safety and health professionals, unions and advocates. They all worked together with the hope of dramatically improving workplace safety (OSHA, 2012). Work place death was a serious issue in 1970; on average 38 people a day died while at work which equals to about 14,000 people in that year alone (OSHA, 2012). OSHA improved safety and health standards while providing employees with protection against asbestos, fall protection, cotton dust, trenching, machine guarding, benzene, lead and blood borne pathogens (OSHA, 2012). Since establishing OSHA the workplace has become a much safer work environment for employees. In today’s workplace there has been a 65 percent decrease in workplace …show more content…
Employers MUST provide their workers with a workplace that does not have serious hazards and must follow all OSHA safety and health standards (OSHA, 2012). When new problems are found in the workplace employers must immediately find and correct the safety or health concern. Another requirement is that employers must not rely solely on personal protection equipment (PPE) such as; masks, gloves, gowns or earplugs. They must eliminate hazards by making changes to working conditions, some examples of this would be switching to safer chemicals, enclosing processes to trap harmful fumes, or using ventilation systems to clean the air (OSHA, 2012). If OSHA finds that the employer is in violations consequences will be enforced, this can include paying a fine or even jail time depending on the severity of the