Help for Employers
How to comply, go beyond compliance, and improve your bottom line
The OSH Act covers most private sector employers and their workers, in addition to some public sector employers and workers in the 50 states and certain territories and jurisdictions under federal authority. OSHA covers most private sector employers and their workers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and other U.S. jurisdictions either directly through Federal OSHA or through an OSHA-approved state program. Workers at state and local government agencies are not covered by Federal OSHA, but have OSH Act protections if they work in those states that have an OSHA-approved state program. Several additional states/territories have OSHA-approved plans that cover public sector workers only. State-run health and safety programs must be at least as effective as the Federal OSHA program. To find the contact information for the OSHA Federal or State Program office nearest you, see the Regional and Area Offices map.
Those not covered by the OSH Act include: self-employed workers, immediate family members of farm employers, and workers whose hazards are regulated by another federal agency (for example, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Energy, or Coast Guard).
- Use OSHA's Hazard Identification Training Tool.
- Review OSHA's Safety and Health Topics Web pages (information from OSHA and other organizations on safety and health hazards, including hazards in specific industries).
- Review OSHA's eTools (highly illustrated training tools on various industries and hazards).
- Review OSHA's Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs
- Get a free On-site Consultation (confidential and separate from OSHA enforcement) to identify and correct potential hazards.
- Find OSHA's compliance assistance resources by industry.
- Find information on emergency preparedness and response.
- Review OSHA's Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs
- Learn how reducing workplace injuries and illnesses can improve your bottom line with OSHA's Safety Pays Program.
- Visit the Making the Business Case for Safety and Health page.
- Get a free On-site Consultation (confidential and separate from OSHA enforcement) to identify and correct potential hazards.
- Learn about OSHA's cooperative programs.
- Read a fact sheet (PDF) on OSHA inspections.
- Review OSHA's penalty structure.
- Read a booklet on Employer Rights and Responsibilities Following an OSHA Inspection.
- See what standards OSHA is citing when it inspects facilities in your industry.
- See the top 10 most frequently cited standards.
- See some of the industries and hazards that OSHA is targeting for inspection: National Emphasis Programs and Local Emphasis Programs.
- Find more information on OSHA enforcement.
- Find OSHA resources for small business employers.
- Get a free On-site Consultation (confidential and separate from OSHA enforcement) to identify and correct potential hazards.
- Learn about the On-site Consultation Program's Safety and Health Recognition Program (SHARP) that recognizes small business employers with exemplary injury and illness prevention programs.
- Learn about OSHA's Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs
- Visit OSHA's Training Resources page.
- Learn about 10- or 30-Hour Classes Available Through OSHA's Outreach Training Program.
- Use OSHA's eTools to help train your workers.
- Order free copies of OSHA educational materials.
- See OSHA's policy statement that employers must train employees in a language and vocabulary that they can understand.
- Get training resources on specific topics:
- Understand your workers' rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
- Read an OSHA booklet on worker rights (PDF).
- Learn about your workers' rights to be protected from retaliation for exercising their rights under the OSHA law and other laws.
- Learn about your workers' rights under other federal labor laws.
- If you are in a state with an OSHA-approved State Program, you may be subject to different or additional requirements, and different or additional cooperative programs may be available to you.
- Review OSHA's Frequently Asked Questions.
- Check the A to Z Index.
- Do a search of the OSHA Web site (white search box at the top of OSHA Web pages).
- Contact OSHA by email, phone, or letter.
- Contact your local OSHA Compliance Assistance Specialist.
Remember: Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace and workers have rights.
Compliance Assistance Quick Start is a tool to introduce employers and workers, especially those at new or small businesses, to the compliance assistance resources on OSHA's website. Quick Start currently includes modules for:
By following the step-by-step guides, you can generate an initial set of compliance assistance materials tailored to your workplace.
FY 2020 Statistics
- 17,663 Consultation Program visits for small and medium-sized employers, covering 667,492 workers and resulting in the identification and correction of 80,910 hazards. To continue providing services to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, Consultation programs conducted 1,170 virtual visits.
- More than 295,000 subscribers to OSHA's QuickTakes e-newsletter.
- 29 million users and 140 million page views on OSHA's website.
- 386,621 calls (including 26,047 in Spanish) to the OSHA 800 number.
- 16,761 questions submitted by email (3,912 forwarded to State Plan States).
- 1,076,652 students taught through OSHA's Outreach Training Program (OSHA 10- and 30-hour cards).
- 32,924 students trained through OSHA's Susan Harwood Training Grant Program.
- 40,003 students taught at OSHA Training Institute Education Centers.
- New OSHA publications, including 22 alerts, 3 guidance documents, 7 posters, 5 fact sheets, 1 hazard bulletin, 1 temporary worker bulletin, 1 wallet card, and 13 videos.
- More than 5,600 outreach activities by OSHA's Regional and Area Offices.