Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Workplaces can present significant hazards to employees. Worldwide, 6,300 people perish each day because of work-related incidents, and almost 320 million people are injured at work. The International Labor Organization estimates that the economic burden of these occupational injuries, illnesses, and deaths amounts to 4 percent of global gross domestic product. In the United States alone, the economic burden reaches $250 billion a year.

Despite deadly, high-profile workplace accidents and injuries, American workers had little protection under federal statutes until 1970, when Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). The act established the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ensure that employees have safe and healthy work environments. Additionally, the law stipulated that the OSHA has the power to research working conditions, ...