OSHA

ALL 3302-02R
A B OUT O SHA2023 1
This booklet provides a general overview of basic
topics related to OSHA and how it operates.
Information provided does not determine
compliance responsibilities under OSHA
standards or the Occupational Safety and Health
Act of 1970 (OSH Act).

Because interpretations and enforcement policy

may change over time, you should consult the
agency for the most up-to-date information.
Much of it is available at the OSHA website at
www.osha.gov. The website also includes
locations and phone numbers for OSHA offices
around the country. If you do not have access
to the website, call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742). This
information is available to sensory-impaired
individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 693-
1999; teletypewriter (TTY) number: (877) 889-5627.

Material in this publication is in the public

domain and may be reproduced, fully or partially,
without permission. Source credit is requested
but not required.

Cover photo: Steve Baranowski, Braintree, Massachusetts

Area Office
All About OSHA
U.S. Department of Labor

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OSHA 3302-02R 2023

 Contents

OSHA’s Mission . . . 4

Introduction . . . 4

OSHA Coverage . . . 5

Rights and Responsibilities under

OSHA Law . . . 9

OSHA Standards . . . 11

Enforcement . . . 14

General Reporting and

Recordkeeping Requirements . . . 17

Filing a Complaint . . . 18

OSHA’s Whistleblower Program:

Protection from Retaliation . . . 19

If There is a Dangerous Situation

at Work . . . 20

Additional Whistleblower Protections . . . 22

OSHA Assistance, Services,

and Programs . . . 27

OSHA Advisory Committees . . . 30

OSHA Regional Offices . . . 31

How to Contact OSHA . . . 33

2 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

In 1970, the United States Congress and President
Richard Nixon created the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA), a national
public health agency dedicated to the basic
proposition that no worker should have to choose
between their life and their job.
Passed with bipartisan support, the creation of
OSHA was a historic moment of cooperative
national reform. The OSHA law makes it clear that
the right to a safe workplace is a basic human right.
Since OSHA’s first day on the job, the agency
has delivered remarkable progress for our nation.
Workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities have
fallen dramatically. Together with our state
partners, OSHA has tackled fatal safety hazards
and health risks. We have established common
sense standards and enforced the law against
those who put workers at risk. Our standards,
enforcement actions, compliance assistance and
cooperative programs have saved thousands of
lives and prevented countless injuries and illnesses.
Looking to the future, OSHA is committed to
protecting workers from toxic chemicals and
fatal safety hazards at work, ensuring that
vulnerable workers in high-risk jobs have access
to critical information and education about job
hazards, and providing employers with vigorous
compliance assistance to promote best practices
that can save lives.
Although our task is far from complete, our
progress gives us hope and confidence that
OSHA will continue to make a lasting difference
in the lives of our nation’s workers, their families
and their communities.

A L L A B OUT O SHA 3
 OSHA’s Mission
Congress created OSHA to assure safe and
healthful conditions for workers by setting and
enforcing standards and providing training,
outreach, education and compliance assistance.
Under the OSHA law, employers are responsible
for providing a safe and healthful workplace for
their workers. For more information, visit OSHA’s
website at www.osha.gov.

Introduction
On December 29, 1970, President Nixon signed
the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
(OSH Act) into law, establishing OSHA. Coupled
with the efforts of employers, workers, safety and
health professionals, unions and advocates,
OSHA and its state partners have dramatically
improved workplace safety, reducing work-related
fatalities by almost 63 percent.
Photo: James Majors

In 1970, an estimated 14,000 workers were killed

on the job – about 38 every day. For 2021, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics reports this number fell
to about 5,190 or about 14 workers per day. At
the same time, U.S. employment has more than
doubled to over 143 million workers at more than

4 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

10 million worksites. The rate of reported serious
workplace injuries and illnesses has also dropped
markedly, from 10.9 per 100 workers in 1972 to
2.7 per 100 workers in 2021.
OSHA’s safety and health standards, including
those for asbestos, fall protection, cotton dust,
trenching, machine guarding, benzene, lead
and bloodborne pathogens have prevented
countless work-related injuries, illnesses
and fatalities. Nevertheless, far too many
preventable injuries and fatalities continue to
occur. Significant hazards and unsafe conditions
still exist in U.S. workplaces; each year more
than 3.2 million workers suffer a serious job-
related injury or illness. Millions more are
exposed to toxic chemicals that may cause
illnesses years from now.
In addition to the direct impact on individual
workers, the negative consequences for America’s
economy are substantial. Occupational injuries
and illnesses cost American employers more than
$97.4 billion a year in workers’ compensation
costs alone. Indirect costs to employers,
including lost productivity, employee training and
replacement costs, and time for investigations
following injuries can more than double these
costs. Workers and their families suffer great
emotional and psychological costs, in addition to
the loss of wages and the costs of caring for the
injured, which further weakens the economy.

OSHA Coverage
The OSH Act provides workplace safety
and health protection to most private sector
employers and their workers, and federally
covered public sector employers and workers
in the 50 states and certain territories and
jurisdictions. Those jurisdictions include the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Northern

A L L A B OUT O SHA 5
 Mariana Islands, Wake Island, Johnston Island,
and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands as defined
in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

Private Sector Workers

Federal OSHA covers most private sector
employers and workers in 29 states, the District of
Columbia, Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam,
Northern Mariana Islands, Wake Island, Johnston
Island, and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands.
Private sector workers in the remaining 21 states
and Puerto Rico are covered by OSHA-approved
State Plans.
State Plans are OSHA-approved workplace safety
and health programs operated by individual
states instead of Federal OSHA. The OSH Act
encourages states to develop and operate their
own workplace safety and health programs and
precludes state enforcement of OSHA standards
unless the state has an approved State Plan.
OSHA approves and monitors all State Plans
and provides up to fifty percent of the funding
for each program. State Plans must be at least
as effective as the Federal OSHA program. To
find the contact information for the OSHA federal
or State Plan office nearest you, call 1-800-321-
OSHA (6742) or go to www.osha.gov/stateplans.
The following 22 states or territories have OSHA-
approved state programs that cover both private
sector and state and local government workers:
• Alaska • New Mexico
• Arizona • North Carolina
• California • Oregon
• Hawaii • Puerto Rico
• Indiana • South Carolina
• Iowa • Tennessee
• Kentucky • Utah
• Maryland • Vermont
• Michigan • Virginia
• Minnesota • Washington
• Nevada • Wyoming
6 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
 OSHA-Approved State Plans

OSHA-approved State Plan covering private sector and state/local

* government workers

OSHA-approved State Plan covering state and local government

** 
workers only

Federal OSHA covering private sector workers

Exceptions to State Plan private sector coverage

are listed on each State Plan’s webpage at
www.‌osha.gov/stateplans.
Complaints About State Program Administration
Any interested person or group, including
individual workers, with a complaint concerning
the operation or administration of a State Plan
may submit a complaint to the appropriate Federal
OSHA Region (regional offices are listed at the
end of this guide). This is called a Complaint
About State Program Administration (CASPA).
The complainant’s name will be kept confidential.
OSHA will determine whether an investigation is
warranted, and will investigate all such complaints.
Where investigated complaints are found to have
merit, OSHA may require appropriate corrective
action on the part of the state.

A L L A B OUT O SHA 7
 State and Local Government Workers
Workers at state and local government agencies are
not covered by Federal OSHA, but are afforded OSH
Act protections if they work in those states that have
an OSHA-approved State Plan. Every State Plan
must cover state and local government workers.
OSHA regulations allow states and territories to
develop State Plans that cover only state and
local government workers. In states with state and
local government only State Plans, private sector
workers and employers remain under Federal
OSHA jurisdiction. Six additional states and one
U.S. territory have OSHA-approved State Plans that
cover state and local government workers only:
• Connecticut • New Jersey
• Illinois • New York
• Maine • Virgin Islands
• Massachusetts
Federal Government Workers
OSHA’s protection applies to all federal agencies.
Section 19 of the OSH Act makes federal agency
heads responsible for providing safe and healthful
working conditions for their workers. Although
OSHA does not fine federal agencies, it does
monitor these agencies and conducts federal
workplace inspections in response to workers’
reports of hazards.
Federal agencies must have a safety and health
program that meets the same standards as
private employers. Under a 1998 amendment, the
OSH Act covers the U.S. Postal Service the same
as any private sector employer.

Not Covered under the OSH Act

• The self-employed;
• Immediate family members of farm
employers; and
• Workplace hazards regulated by another
federal agency (for example, the Mine Safety
and Health Administration, the Department of
Energy, or the Coast Guard).

8 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

Rights and Responsibilities under
OSHA Law
Employers have the responsibility to provide a
safe workplace. Employers MUST provide their
workers with a workplace that does not have
serious hazards and must follow all OSHA safety
and health standards. Employers must find and
correct safety and health problems. OSHA further
requires that employers must first try to eliminate
or reduce hazards by making feasible changes in
working conditions rather than relying on personal
protective equipment such as masks, gloves, or
earplugs. Switching to safer chemicals, enclosing
processes to trap harmful fumes, or using
ventilation systems to clean the air are examples
of effective ways to eliminate or reduce risks.
Employers MUST also:
• Prominently display the official OSHA Job
Safety and Health – It’s the Law poster that
describes rights and responsibilities under
the OSH Act. This poster is free and can be
downloaded from www.osha.gov.
• Inform workers about chemical hazards through
training, labels, alarms, color-coded systems,
chemical information sheets and other methods.
• Provide safety training to workers in a
language and vocabulary they can understand.
• Keep accurate records of work-related
injuries and illnesses.
• Perform tests in the workplace, such as air
sampling, required by some OSHA standards.
• Provide required personal protective
equipment at no cost to workers.*
• Provide hearing exams or other medical tests
required by OSHA standards.
• Post OSHA citations and injury and illness
data where workers can see them.

A L L A B OUT O SHA 9
 • Notify OSHA within 8 hours of a workplace
fatality or within 24 hours of any work-related
inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of
an eye (1-800-321-OSHA [6742]).
• Not retaliate against workers for using their
rights under the law, including their right to
report a work-related injury or illness.
* Employers must pay for most types of required personal
protective equipment.

Under OSHA law, workers are entitled to working

conditions that do not pose a risk of serious harm.
Workers have the right to:
• File a confidential complaint with OSHA to
have their workplace inspected.
• Receive information and training about
hazards, methods to prevent harm, and the
OSHA standards that apply to their workplace.
The training must be done in a language and
vocabulary workers can understand.
• Receive copies of records of work-related injuries
and illnesses that occur in their workplace.
• Receive copies of the results from tests and
monitoring done to find and measure hazards
in their workplace.
• Receive copies of their workplace medical
records.
• Participate in an OSHA inspection and speak in
private with the inspector.
• File a complaint with OSHA if they have been
retaliated against by their employer as the
result of requesting an inspection or using
any of their other rights under the OSH Act.
• File a complaint if punished or retaliated
against for acting as a “whistleblower” under
the more than 20 federal laws for which
OSHA has jurisdiction.
For more information, visit OSHA’s Workers’
Rights page at www.osha.gov/workers.

10 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

OSHA Standards
OSHA’s Construction, General Industry, Maritime
and Agriculture standards protect workers from a
wide range of serious hazards. Examples of OSHA
standards include requirements for employers to:
• provide fall protection;
• prevent trenching cave-ins;
• prevent exposure to some infectious diseases;
• ensure the safety of workers who enter
confined spaces;
• prevent exposure to harmful chemicals;
• put guards on dangerous machines;
• provide respirators or other safety
equipment; and
• provide training for certain dangerous jobs in
a language and vocabulary workers can
understand.
Photo: iStock

Employers must also comply with the General

Duty Clause of the OSH Act. This clause requires
employers to keep their workplaces free of serious
recognized hazards and is generally cited when
no specific OSHA standard applies to the hazard.

A L L A B OUT O SHA 11
 The Standards-Setting Process
OSHA has the authority to issue new or revised
occupational safety and health standards. The
OSHA standards-setting process involves many
steps and provides many opportunities for public
engagement. OSHA can begin standards-setting
procedures on its own initiative or in response
to recommendations or petitions from other
parties, including:
• The National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH), the research
agency for occupational safety and health.
(For more information, call 1-800-CDC-INFO
(1-800-232-4636) or visit the agency’s website
at www.cdc.gov/niosh);
• State and local governments;
• Nationally recognized standards-producing
organizations;
• Employer or labor representatives; and
• Any other interested parties.
Photo: iStock

When OSHA is considering whether to develop

a new or revised standard, the Agency often
publishes a Request for Information (RFI) or
an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

12 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

(ANPRM) in the Federal Register to obtain
information and views from interested members
of the public. OSHA will also frequently hold
stakeholder meetings with interested parties
to solicit information and opinions on how the
Agency should proceed with the regulation.
When OSHA publishes an RFI or ANPRM,
interested parties can submit written comments
at www.regulations.gov, where all information
and submissions are made public.
If OSHA decides to proceed with issuing a new
or revised regulation, it must first publish a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the
Federal Register and solicit public comment. The
NPRM contains a proposed standard along with
OSHA’s explanation of the need for the various
requirements in that proposed standard.
Interested parties are invited to submit written
comments through www.regulations.gov,
and OSHA will often hold public hearings in
which stakeholders can offer testimony and
provide information to assist the Agency in
developing a final standard. After considering
all of the information and testimony provided,
OSHA develops and issues a final standard that
becomes enforceable.
Each spring and fall, the Department of Labor
publishes in the Federal Register a list of all
regulatory projects underway. The Regulatory
Agenda provides a projected schedule for these
projects to inform stakeholders of the Agency’s
regulatory priorities and enable interested parties
to take advantage of opportunities to participate in
the regulatory process. Current and past issues of
the Regulatory Agenda can be accessed on OSHA’s
Law and Regulations page at www.osha.gov/
law-regs.

A L L A B OUT O SHA 13
 Input from Small Business
The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996 (SBREFA) gives small businesses
help in understanding and complying with OSHA
regulations and allows them a voice in developing
new regulations. Under SBREFA, OSHA must:
• Produce Small Entity Compliance Guides for
some agency rules;
• Be responsive to small business inquiries about
complying with the Agency’s regulations;
• Submit final rules to Congress for review;
• Have a penalty reduction policy for small
businesses; and
• Involve small businesses in developing
proposed rules expected to significantly affect
a large number of small entities through Small
Business Advocacy Review Panels.
More information about OSHA standards and the
standards-setting process is available on OSHA’s
website at www.osha.gov. Standards can be
viewed on OSHA’s Law and Regulations page at
www.osha.gov/law-regs.

Enforcement
OSHA Inspection Activities:
Carrying Out Our Mission
Enforcement plays an important part in OSHA’s
efforts to reduce workplace injuries, illnesses, and
fatalities. When OSHA finds employers who fail to
uphold their safety and health responsibilities, the
agency takes strong, decisive actions.
Inspections are initiated without advance notice,
conducted using on-site or telephone and
facsimile investigations, performed by highly
trained compliance officers and scheduled based
on the following priorities:
• Imminent danger;
• Catastrophes – fatalities or hospitalizations;
• Worker complaints and referrals;

14 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

• Targeted inspections – particular hazards, high
injury rates; and
• Follow-up inspections.
Current workers or their representatives may file
a written complaint and ask OSHA to inspect their
workplace if they believe there is a serious hazard
or that their employer is not following OSHA
standards. Workers and their representatives have
the right to ask for an inspection without OSHA
telling their employer who filed the complaint. It
is a violation of the OSH Act for an employer to
fire, demote, transfer or in any way retaliate
against a worker for filing a complaint or using
other OSHA rights.
Photo: Aaron Sussell, Cincinnati, Ohio

The on-site inspection begins with the

presentation of the compliance officer’s
credentials. The compliance officer will explain
why OSHA selected the workplace for inspection
and describe the scope of the inspection process,
walkaround procedures, employee representation
and employee interviews. Following the opening
conference, the compliance officer and the
representatives will walk through portions of the
workplace covered by the inspection, inspecting
for hazards that could lead to worker injury or
illness. After the walkaround, the compliance

A L L A B OUT O SHA 15
 officer will hold a closing conference with the
employer and the employee representative to
discuss the findings.
When an inspector finds violations of OSHA
standards or serious hazards, OSHA may issue
citations and fines. A citation includes methods an
employer may use to fix a problem and the date by
which the corrective actions must be completed.
Employers have the right to contest any part
of the citation, including whether a violation
actually exists. Workers only have the right to
challenge the deadline by which a problem must
be resolved. Appeals of citations are heard by
the independent Occupational Safety and Health
Review Commission (OSHRC). To contact the
OSHRC, visit www.oshrc.gov or call (202) 606-5370.
OSHA carries out its enforcement activities
through its 10 regional offices and more than
85 area offices. OSHA’s regional offices are
located in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia,
Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Denver, San
Francisco and Seattle. Contact information for each
regional office is available at the end of this guide.
Severe Violator Enforcement Program
OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program
(SVEP) was significantly revised on September 15,
2022. The revised program includes updates to
enforcement policies and procedures for OSHA’s
SVEP, which concentrates resources on inspecting
employers that have demonstrated indifference
to their OSH Act obligations by committing
willful, repeated, or failure-to-abate violations.
Enforcement actions for severe violator cases
include mandatory follow-up inspections and,
where appropriate, ensure increased awareness
of the enforcement actions at the corporate level,
corporate-wide agreements, enhanced settlement
provisions, and federal court enforcement under
Section 11(b) of the OSH Act. For more information,
visit: www.osha.gov/enforcement/svep.

16 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

General Reporting and
Recordkeeping Requirements
OSHA’s Reporting Requirements
All employers must report to OSHA:
• The death of any worker from a work-related
incident within 8 hours of learning about it;
• Any work-related inpatient hospitalization,
amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours.
For more information, visit www.osha.gov/report.
In addition, employers must report all fatal
heart attacks that occur at work. Fatal injuries
from motor vehicle accidents on public streets
(except those in a construction work zone) and
in accidents on commercial airplanes, trains,
subways or buses do not need to be reported.
These reports may be made by telephone or in
person to the nearest OSHA area office listed
at www.osha.gov or by calling OSHA’s toll-free
number, 1-800-321-OSHA (6742).

OSHA’s Recordkeeping Requirements

Tracking and investigating workplace injuries and
illnesses play an important role in preventing
future injuries and illnesses, and for that reason,
OSHA requires certain covered employers in high-
hazard industries to prepare and maintain records
of serious work-related injuries and illnesses.
Employers with more than ten employees and
whose establishments are not classified as a
partially exempt industry must record serious
work-related injuries and illnesses using OSHA
Forms 300, 300A and 301, which are available
at www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/forms. A
list of partially exempt industries, including
establishments in specific low hazard retail,
service, finance, insurance or real estate industries
is available at www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/
presentations/exempttable. Employers who are
required to keep Form 300, the Injury and Illness
log, must also post Form 300A, the Summary

A L L A B OUT O SHA 17
 of Work‑Related Injuries and Illnesses, in the
workplace every year from February 1 to April 30.
For more information, visit www.osha.gov/
recordkeeping.
Employers and workers need accurate, timely
information to focus their prevention activities,
and OSHA uses this information for many
purposes, including inspection targeting,
performance measurement, standards
development and resource allocation. Injury and
illness data also aid employers and workers in
identifying possible safety and health hazards at
the employer’s establishment. OSHA encourages
employers to review and investigate patterns
of injuries and illnesses, and to conduct
investigations of injuries and near misses to
prevent similar events in the future.
OSHA is responsible for administering the
recordkeeping system established by the
OSH Act. OSHA’s recordkeeping regulations
provide specific recording and reporting
requirements which comprise the framework for
the nationwide occupational safety and health
recordkeeping system. For more information
about OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements, visit
www.osha.gov/recordkeeping.

Filing a Complaint
Hazardous Workplace Complaints
If a workplace has unsafe or unhealthful working
conditions, workers may want to file a complaint.
Often the best and fastest way to get a hazard
corrected is to notify a supervisor or employer.
Workers or their representatives may file a
complaint online or by phone, mail, email or fax
with the nearest OSHA office and request an
inspection. A worker may also ask OSHA not to
reveal his or her name. To file a complaint, call

18 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

1-800-321-OSHA (6742) or contact the nearest
OSHA regional, area, State Plan, or consultation
office listed at www.osha.gov. The teletypewriter
(TTY) number is (877) 889-5627.
Written, signed complaints submitted to OSHA area
offices are more likely to result in an on-site OSHA
inspection. Most online or unsigned complaints
are resolved informally over the phone with the
employer. Complaints from workers in states with
an OSHA-approved State Plan will be forwarded to
the appropriate State Plan for response.
Workers can call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) to
request a complaint form from their local
OSHA office or visit www.osha.gov/ords/osha7/
eComplaintForm.html to submit the form online.
Completed forms can also be faxed or mailed to
the local OSHA office (provided at the end of this
guide). Include your name, address and telephone
number so that OSHA can contact you.

OSHA’s Whistleblower Program:

Protection from Retaliation
To help ensure that workers are free to participate
in safety and health activities, Section 11(c) of the
OSH Act prohibits any person from discharging
or in any manner retaliating against any worker
for exercising rights under the OSH Act. These
rights include raising safety and health concerns
with an employer, reporting a work-related injury
or illness, filing a complaint with OSHA, seeking
an OSHA inspection, participating in an OSHA
inspection and participating or testifying in any
proceeding related to an OSHA inspection.
Protection from retaliation means that an
employer cannot retaliate by taking “adverse
action” against workers, such as:
• Firing or laying off;
• Demoting;
• Denying overtime or promotion;

A L L A B OUT O SHA 19
 • Disciplining;
• Denying benefits;
• Failing to hire or rehire;
• Intimidation or harassment;
• Making threats;
• Reassignment to a less desirable position
or actions affecting prospects for promotion
(such as excluding an employee from training
meetings);
• Reducing or changing pay or hours;
• More subtle actions, such as isolating,
ostracizing, mocking, or falsely accusing the
employee of poor performance;
• Blacklisting (intentionally interfering with an
employee’s ability to obtain future employment);
• Constructive discharge (quitting when an
employer makes working conditions intolerable
due to the employee’s protected activity); or
• Reporting or threatening to report an employee
to the police or immigration authorities.
If a worker believes an employer has retaliated
against them for exercising their safety
and health rights, they should contact their
local OSHA office right away. You must file
a retaliation complaint with OSHA within
30 calendar days from the date the retaliatory
decision has been both made and communicated
to the worker. No form is needed, but workers
must contact OSHA within 30 days of the alleged
retaliation (at 1-800-321-OSHA [6742]). For more
information, please visit www.whistleblowers.gov.

If There is a Dangerous Situation at Work

If a worker believes working conditions are
unsafe or unhealthful, OSHA recommends that
he or she bring the conditions to the employer’s
attention, if possible. A worker may file a
complaint with OSHA concerning a hazardous
working condition at any time. However, workers

20 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

 Photo: Frank Wenzel, Washington DOSH

should not leave the worksite merely because

they have filed a complaint. If the condition
clearly presents a risk of death or serious
physical harm, there is not sufficient time for
OSHA to inspect, and, where possible, a worker
has brought the condition to the attention of the
employer, the worker may have a legal right to
refuse to work in a situation in which he or she
would be exposed to the hazard.
If a worker, with no reasonable alternative, refuses
in good faith to expose himself or herself to a
dangerous condition, he or she would be protected
from subsequent retaliation. The condition must be
of such a nature that a reasonable person would
conclude that there is a real danger of death or
serious harm and that there is not enough time
to contact OSHA and for OSHA to inspect. Where
possible, the worker must have also sought from
his or her employer, and been unable to obtain, a
correction of the condition. For more information,
go to www.whistleblowers.gov/refusals.

A L L A B OUT O SHA 21
 Additional Whistleblower Protections
Since passage of the OSH Act in 1970, Congress
has expanded OSHA’s whistleblower protection
authority to protect workers from retaliation under
more than 20 federal laws. These laws protect
workers who report violations of various workplace
safety, airline, antitrust, anti-money laundering,
commercial motor carrier, consumer product,
environmental, financial reform, healthcare
reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation
agency, railroad, maritime, securities, and tax laws.
Complaints must be reported to OSHA within set
timeframes following the retaliatory action, as
prescribed by each law. These laws, and the number
of days workers have to file a complaint, are:
Employee Safety and Environmental
Protection Laws
• Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response
Act (AHERA) (90 days). Provides retaliation
protection for individuals who report
violations of environmental laws relating
to asbestos in public or private nonprofit
elementary and secondary school systems.
• Clean Air Act (CAA) (30 days). Provides
retaliation protection for employees who,
among other things, report violations of this
law, which provides for the development and
enforcement of standards regarding air quality
and air pollution.
• Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
(30 days). Protects employees who report
regulatory violations involving accidents,
spills, and other emergency releases of
pollutants into the environment. The law also
protects employees who report violations
related to the cleanup of uncontrolled or
abandoned hazardous waste sites.
• Energy Reorganization Act (ERA) (180 days).
Protects certain employees in the nuclear
industry who report violations of the Atomic
Energy Act (AEA). Protected employees include
22 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
 employees of operators, contractors and
subcontractors of nuclear power plants licensed
by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
and employees of contractors working with
the Department of Energy under a contract
pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act.
• Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA)
(also known as the Clean Water Act)
(30 days). Provides retaliation protection for
employees who, among other things, report
violations of the law controlling water pollution.
• Occupational Safety and Health Act (Section
11(c)) (30 days). Provides retaliation protection
for employees who exercise a variety of rights
guaranteed under this law, such as filing a
safety and health complaint with OSHA and
participating in an inspection.
• Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) (30 days).
Provides retaliation protection for
employees who, among other things, report
violations of this law, which requires that
all drinking water systems assure that their
water is potable, as determined by the
Environmental Protection Agency.
• Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) (also known
as the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act) (30 days). Provides retaliation protection
for employees who, among other things,
report violations of the law regulating the
disposal of solid waste.
• Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
(30 days). Provides retaliation protection
for employees who, among other things,
report violations of regulations involving the
manufacture, distribution, and use of certain
toxic substances.
Transportation Services Laws
• Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) (180 days).
Provides protection to employees of railroad
carriers and contractors and subcontractors of
those carriers who report an alleged violation
of any federal law, rule, or regulation relating
A L L A B OUT O SHA 23
 to railroad safety or security, or gross fraud,
waste, or abuse of federal grants or other public
funds intended to be used for railroad safety
or security; report, in good faith, a hazardous
safety or security condition; refuse to violate or
assist in the violation of any federal law, rule, or
regulation relating to railroad safety or security;
refuse to work when confronted by a hazardous
safety or security condition related to the
performance of the employee’s duties (under
imminent danger circumstances); request prompt
medical or first-aid treatment for employment-
related injuries; are disciplined for requesting
medical or first-aid treatment or for following an
order or treatment plan of a treating physician.
• International Safe Container Act (ISCA)
(60 days). Provides retaliation protection for
employees who report violations of this law,
which regulates shipping containers.
• National Transit Systems Security Act (NTSSA)
(180 days). Provides protection to public transit
employees who, among other things, report
an alleged violation of any federal law, rule,
or regulation relating to public transportation
agency safety or security, or fraud, waste, or
abuse of federal grants or other public funds
intended to be used for public transportation
safety or security; refuse to violate or assist
in the violation of any federal law, rule, or
regulation relating to public transportation safety
or security; report a hazardous safety or security
condition; refuse to work when confronted by
a hazardous safety or security condition related
to the performance of the employee’s duties
(under imminent danger circumstances).
• Pipeline Safety Improvement Act (PSIA)
(180 days). Provides retaliation protection for
employees who report violations of the federal
laws regarding pipeline safety and security or
who refuse to violate such provisions.
• Seaman’s Protection Act (SPA) (180 days).
Seamen are protected, among other things, for

24 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

 reporting to the Coast Guard or other federal
agency a reasonably believed violation of a
maritime safety law or regulation prescribed
under that law or regulation. The law also
protects work refusals where the employee
reasonably believes an assigned task would
result in serious injury or impairment of health
to the seaman, other seamen, or the public and
when the seaman sought, and was unable to
obtain correction of the unsafe conditions.
• Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA)
(180 days). Provides retaliation protection for
truck drivers and other employees relating
to the safety of commercial motor vehicles.
Coverage includes all buses for hire and
freight trucks with a gross vehicle weight
greater than 10,001 pounds.
• Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and
Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR21)
(90 days). Provides retaliation protection for
employees of air carriers, contractors, or
subcontractors of air carriers who, among
other things, raise safety concerns.

Health Insurance and Fraud Prevention Laws

• Affordable Care Act (ACA) (180 days). Protects
employees who report violations of any
provision of Title I of the ACA, including
but not limited to retaliation based on an
individual’s receipt of health insurance
subsidies, the denial of coverage based on a
preexisting condition, or an insurer’s failure to
rebate a portion of an excess premium.
• Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) (90 days).
Protects employees who report potential
money laundering violations to their employers
or to the federal government.
• Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA),
Section 1057 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street
Reform and Consumer Protection Act
(180 days). Protects employees who report
perceived violations of any provision of the

A L L A B OUT O SHA 25
 Dodd-Frank Act, which encompasses nearly
every aspect of the financial services industry.
The law also protects employees who report
violations of any rule, order, standard or
prohibition prescribed by the Bureau of
Consumer Financial Protection.
• Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act
(CAARA) (180 days). Protects employees who
report criminal antitrust violations to their
employers or the federal government, or
engage in related protected activities.
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) (180 days). Protects
employees of certain companies who report
alleged mail, wire, bank or securities fraud;
violations of the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) rules and regulations;
or violations of federal laws related to fraud
against shareholders. The law covers employees
of publicly traded companies and companies
required to file certain reports with the SEC.
• Taxpayer First Act (TFA) (180 days). Provides
retaliation protection for employees who
report underpayment of tax, violations of
internal revenue laws, or violations of federal
law relating to tax fraud; or engage in other
related protected activities.
Consumer Safety Laws
• Consumer Product Safety Improvement
Act (CPSIA) (180 days). Protects employees
who report to their employer, the federal
government, or a state attorney general
reasonably perceived violations of any
statute or regulation within the jurisdiction
of the Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC). CPSIA covers employees of
consumer product manufacturers, importers,
distributors, retailers, and private labelers.
• FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
(180 days). Protects employees of food
manufacturers, distributors, packers, and
transporters for reporting a violation of the

26 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or a regulation
promulgated under this law. Employees are
also protected from retaliation for refusing to
participate in a practice that violates this law.
• Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century
Act (MAP-21) (180 days). Prohibits retaliation
by motor vehicle manufacturers, part suppliers,
and dealerships against employees for
providing information to the employer or the
U.S. Department of Transportation about motor
vehicle defects, noncompliance, or violations
of the notification or reporting requirements
enforced by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration or for engaging in related
protected activities as set forth in the provision.
If you believe that you have been retaliated against,
call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) to be connected to the
nearest OSHA office to report your complaint. For
more information, visit OSHA’s Whistleblower page
at www.whistleblowers.gov.

OSHA Assistance, Services, and Programs

OSHA has a great deal of information to assist
employers in complying with their responsibilities
under OSHA law. Several OSHA programs and
services can help employers identify and correct
job hazards, as well as improve their safety and
health program.

Establishing a Safety and Health Program

Safety and health programs are systems that can
substantially reduce the number and severity of
workplace injuries and illnesses, while reducing
costs to employers.
Visit www.osha.gov/safety-management for more
information.

Compliance Assistance Specialists

OSHA compliance assistance specialists can
provide information to employers and workers
about OSHA standards, short educational

A L L A B OUT O SHA 27
 programs on specific hazards or OSHA rights and
responsibilities, and information on additional
compliance assistance resources.
Visit www.osha.gov/complianceassistance/cas or
call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) to contact your local
OSHA office.

No-Cost On-Site Safety and Health

Consultation Services for Small Business
OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program offers
no‑cost and confidential advice to small and
medium-sized businesses in all states, with priority
given to high-hazard worksites. On-Site consultation
services are separate from enforcement and do not
result in penalties or citations.
For more information or to find the local
On-Site Consultation office in your state, visit
www.‌osha.‌gov/consultation, or call 1-800-321-
OSHA (6742).
Under the consultation program, certain
exemplary employers may request participation
in OSHA’s Safety and Health Achievement
Recognition Program (SHARP). Worksites that
receive SHARP recognition are exempt from
programmed inspections during the period that
the SHARP certification is valid.

Cooperative Programs
OSHA offers cooperative programs under which
businesses, labor groups and other organizations
can work cooperatively with OSHA. To find out
more about any of the following programs, visit
www.osha.gov/cooperativeprograms.

Strategic Partnerships and Alliances

The OSHA Strategic Partnerships (OSP) provide the
opportunity for OSHA to partner with employers,
workers, professional or trade associations, labor
organizations, and/or other interested stakeholders.
Through the Alliance Program, OSHA works with

28 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

groups to develop compliance assistance tools and
resources to share with workers and employers,
and educate workers and employers about their
rights and responsibilities.

Voluntary Protection
Programs (VPP)

Photo: Thinkstock
The VPP recognize
employers and workers
in the private sector and
federal agencies who have
implemented effective
safety and health programs and maintain injury
and illness rates below the national average for
their respective industries.

Occupational Safety and Health Training

OSHA partners with more than 25 OSHA Training
Institute Education Centers at multiple locations
throughout the United States to deliver courses
on OSHA standards and occupational safety and
health topics to thousands of students a year.
For more information on training courses, visit
www.‌osha.gov/otiec.

OSHA Educational Materials

OSHA has many types of educational materials
to assist employers and workers in finding and
preventing workplace hazards.
All OSHA publications are free at www.‌osha.‌gov/
publications and www.osha.gov/ebooks.
You can also call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) to
order publications.
Employers and safety and health professionals
can sign-up for QuickTakes, OSHA’s free, twice-
monthly online newsletter with the latest news
about OSHA initiatives and products to assist in
finding and preventing workplace hazards. To
sign up, visit www.‌osha.gov/quicktakes.

A L L A B OUT O SHA 29
 OSHA Advisory Committees
OSHA sponsors advisory committees to advise
the Secretary of Labor and the Assistant Secretary
of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health on
workplace safety and health issues.
All OSHA advisory committees have membership
balanced between representatives of workers and
employers, and most also include other qualified
individuals such as government officials, safety
and health professionals and members of the
public. All committees accept comments from
interested individuals. Transcripts and minutes
of the meetings are also available to the public
on the committee webpages at www.osha.gov/
advisorycommittees.
The four current advisory committees are the:
• Advisory Committee on Construction Safety
and Health (ACCSH), which advises the
Secretary of Labor on construction safety and
health standards and other matters;
• Federal Advisory Council on Occupational
Safety and Health (FACOSH), which advises the
Secretary of Labor on matters, policies, plans,
and programs relating to the occupational
safety and health of federal employees;
• Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational
Safety and Health (MACOSH), which advises
the Secretary of Labor on workplace safety and
health programs, policies and standards in the
maritime industry; and
• National Advisory Committee on Occupational
Safety and Health (NACOSH), which advises,
consults with and makes recommendations
to the U.S. Secretaries of Labor (DOL) and
Health and Human Services (HHS) on matters
regarding the OSH Act.
In addition, OSHA may form short-term advisory
committees to advise the agency on specific issues.

30 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

OSHA Regional Offices

Region 1
Boston Regional Office
(CT*, ME*, MA*, NH, RI, VT*)
JFK Federal Building
25 New Sudbury Street, Room E340
Boston, MA 02203
(617) 565-9860 (617) 565-9827 Fax

Region 2
New York Regional Office
(NJ*, NY*, PR*, VI*)
Federal Building
201 Varick Street, Room 670
New York, NY 10014
(212) 337-2378 (212) 337-2371 Fax

Region 3
Philadelphia Regional Office
(DE, DC, MD*, PA, VA*, WV)
The Curtis Center
170 S. Independence Mall West, Suite 740 West
Philadelphia, PA 19106-3309
(215) 861-4900 (215) 861-4904 Fax

Region 4
Atlanta Regional Office
(AL, FL, GA, KY*, MS, NC*, SC*, TN*)
Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center
61 Forsyth Street, SW, Room 6T50
Atlanta, GA 30303
(678) 237-0400 (678) 237-0447 Fax

Region 5
Chicago Regional Office
(IL*, IN*, MI*, MN*, OH, WI)
John C. Kluczynski Federal Building
230 South Dearborn Street, Room 3244
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 353-2220 (312) 353-7774 Fax

A L L A B OUT O SHA 31
 Region 6
Dallas Regional Office
(AR, LA, NM*, OK, TX)
A. Maceo Smith Federal Building
525 Griffin Street, Room 602
Dallas, TX 75202
(972) 850-4145 (972) 850-4149 Fax

Region 7
Kansas City Regional Office
(IA*, KS, MO, NE)
Two Pershing Square Building
2300 Main Street, Suite 1010
Kansas City, MO 64108-2416
(816) 283-8745 (816) 283-0547 Fax

Region 8
Denver Regional Office
(CO, MT, ND, SD, UT*, WY*)
Cesar Chavez Memorial Building
1244 Speer Boulevard, Suite 551
Denver, CO 80204
(720) 264-6550 (720) 264-6585 Fax

Region 9
San Francisco Regional Office
(AZ*, CA*, HI*, NV*, and American Samoa,
Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands)
San Francisco Federal Building
90 7th Street, Suite 2650
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 625-2547 (415) 625-2534 Fax

Region 10
Seattle Regional Office
(AK*, ID, OR*, WA*)
Fifth & Yesler Tower
300 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1280
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 757-6700 (206) 757-6705 Fax

32 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

*These states and territories operate their own
OSHA-approved job safety and health plans and
cover state and local government employees
as well as private sector employees. The
Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New
Jersey, New York and Virgin Islands programs
cover public employees only. (Private sector
workers in these states are covered by Federal
OSHA). States with approved programs must
have standards that are identical to, or at least as
effective as, the Federal OSHA standards.

Note: To get contact information for OSHA area

offices, OSHA-approved State Plans and OSHA
consultation projects, please visit us online at
www.osha.gov or call us at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742).

How to Contact OSHA

Under the Occupational Safety and Health
Act of 1970, employers are responsible for
providing safe and healthful workplaces for their
employees. OSHA’s role is to help ensure these
conditions for America’s workers by setting and
enforcing standards, and providing training,
education and assistance. For more information,
visit www.osha.gov or call OSHA at 1-800-321-
OSHA (6742), TTY 1-877-889-5627.

For assistance, contact us.

We are OSHA. We can help.

A L L A B OUT O SHA 33
 U.S. Department of Labor

For more information:

Occupational
Safety and Health
Administration

www.osha.gov (800) 321-OSHA (6742)