Created by the OSH Act of 1970. Its inspector corps is small relative to the country's 8 million workplaces, so it relies on targeted inspections, whistleblower cases, and state-run plans that cover about half the states.
Open the interactive page for OSHA →Created byOccupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, P.L. 91-596 (Dec. 29, 1970); OSHA itself organized within the Department of Labor by Secretary of Labor's order in 1971 to exercise the Act's authorities (the Act vests them in the Secretary)
Head appointed29 U.S.C. § 553 (as amended by OSH Act § 29(a), P.L. 91-596, 84 Stat. 1618): Assistant Secretaries of Labor 'appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate'; 'One of such Assistant Secretaries shall be an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health'; no fixed term (PAS)
Removal standardno statutory protection — at will (sub-cabinet officer under the Secretary of Labor)
Funded underAnnual Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies appropriations act; general-fund appropriated
Congressional oversightHouse Education and Workforce · Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Inspector generalDepartment of Labor OIG (PAS IG under the Inspector General Act, 5 U.S.C. § 403)
Judicial reviewStandards challenged pre-enforcement in the court of appeals within 60 days of promulgation, 29 U.S.C. § 655(f); citations adjudicated before the separate Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, with court-of-appeals review under 29 U.S.C. § 660; no private right of action under the Act
File a confidential safety complaint, which can trigger an inspection (29 U.S.C. § 657(f)); petition OSHA for a new standard; comment on proposed rules. Federal law protects workers who complain from retaliation.
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