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OSHA Restructures
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The agency's new structure increases outreach
and establishes a new office for small business. |
OSHA’s restructuring, which took effect in late August, features a new Office of Small Business and a separate organization to coordinate compliance assistance activities.
The new dedicated compliance assistance organization, the Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs, formalizes OSHA’s efforts to expand compliance programs, training, outreach, and education programs. It also creates an organization that builds on and expands the knowledge and successes of the compliance assistance programs currently in place.
In addition to the new Office of Small Business Assistance, other new offices created by the restructuring include the Office of Partnerships and Recognition and the Office of Outreach Services and Alliances, both designed to reach out to the business and employer communities.
The restructuring also consolidated the Directorates of Safety and Health Standards into one unified organization that addresses both regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to safety and health. This change streamlines OSHA rulemaking by integrating all safety and health standards and guidelines development activity within one organization.
The agency also renamed its Directorate of Compliance Programs as the Directorate of Enforcement to clarify and emphasize the strong enforcement that OSHA will continue to pursue under the restructuring.
"The workers in this country, and the businesses and organizations that employ them, deserve the very best performance from OSHA," said John L. Henshaw, OSHA Administrator. "This reorganization realigns our resources and functions around proven strategies that will produce the best results in reducing workplace injuries and illnesses."
Henshaw said the changes will also enable OSHA to work more effectively to meet its three priorities: strong, fair, effective enforcement; expanded compliance assistance, education, and outreach; and expanded partnerships and voluntary efforts.
Other changes that took place under the restructuring plan included replacing the Directorate of Policy with the Directorate of Evaluation and Analysis to better monitor and measure the agency’s performance and to track its progress against strategic objectives, and changing the name of the Directorate of Technical Support to the Directorate of Science, Technology, and Medicine.
Highlights
- The Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs replaced the former Directorate of Federal-State Programs. The new directorate coordinates OSHA’s role in carrying out compliance assistance and outreach functions. Three new offices were created in the new directorate: the Office of Small Business Assistance; the Office of Partnerships and Recognition; and the Office of Outreach Services and Alliances. The current offices of State Programs and Training and Education remain unchanged.
- The Directorate of Evaluation and Analysis replaced the former Directorate of Policy. This new directorate focuses on performance measurement and program evaluations, including on-site audits of regional and area office operations. The Office of Statistics, previously part of the Directorate of Information Technology, was transferred to the new directorate. The Office of Regulatory Analysis continues to be a part of the Directorate of Evaluation and Analysis. The Correspondence Control Unit also moved to the new directorate.
- A new Directorate of Standards and Guidance replaced the existing two directorates that develop and promulgate standards: the Directorate of Health Standards and the Directorate of Safety Standards. In the new unified directorate, all safety and health standards development activities have been integrated, streamlining OSHA’s rulemaking activities. A new function was added to the Directorate of Standards and Guidance: planning, developing, and managing non-regulatory approaches, which supplement the agency’s rulemaking efforts.
- The Directorate of Compliance Programs became the Directorate of Enforcement Programs, and several management layers were removed within the directorate. The Office of General Industry Compliance Assistance became the Office of General Industry Enforcement, and its subordinate divisions were eliminated. In a parallel change, the Office of Health Compliance Assistance was renamed the Office of Health Enforcement, and its subordinate divisions were eliminated. The former Division of Maritime Assistance was elevated to an office level and renamed the Office of Maritime Enforcement. The previous Office of 11(c) Programs was renamed the Office of Investigative Assistance.
- The Paperwork Reduction Act function as it relates to standards promulgation was consolidated in one staff that reports to the director, Directorate of Standards and Guidance.
- The former Office of Reinvention was eliminated. The staff of that organization was reassigned to the new Directorate of Evaluation and Analysis, where it works on performance measurement, program evaluation, and customer service-related functions. JSHQ
Click here for a chart that illustrates OSHA's restructuring.
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