OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It protects workers from safety and health hazards by setting guidelines for employers to follow regarding workplace standards. OSHA inspectors visit workplaces to check for risks or hazards. They also document injuries and fatalities to try and reduce future incidents. The main purpose of OSHA is to ensure workplaces are safe for employees. It allows workers to report any violations so OSHA can investigate and fine employers if needed until issues are addressed.

1. OSHA
Have you ever seen those OSHA posters around the workplace and
wondered what they are all about? We are going to give you an overview
of OSHA and what their purpose is when it comes to safety in the
workplace.
OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA
protects workers from safety and health hazards; they also educate and
train employers, who then train their employees. OHSA sets certain
guidelines and criteria that must be met by all employers.
Have you ever seen anyone walking around your work place and checking
out certain areas for possible risk? These people that you see are probably
from OSHA.
OSHA comes to job sites to do inspections on occasions and if there is an
injury or a death related to an accident at work then it is reported and
documented not only by the employer but by OSHA as well.
OSHA keeps statistics about fatalities and injuries to try and reduce these
situations from happening in the future. They also keep this type of
information so that they can go back and look to see if things are improving
in the workplace or getting worse.
OSHA’s main purpose is to protect the workers from harm’s way and to
make sure every work place has OSHA standards in place and that their
employees are aware of these standards.
OSHA has a service that is provided to employees and that is that if an
employer is violating standards or you think that something is not safe then
you as an employee have the right to report these situations and it is
OSHA’s job to look into the situation to see what is going on and to do
something about it. If OSHA finds something that is in violation of their
codes then the company can be fined until it is fixed.

2. With every organization, such as OSHA, there are always pros and cons to
look at. There are many beneficial pros that are presented with having an
organization such as OSHA. Sense OSHA has been operating and
providing guidelines to follow the rate of workplace deaths and injuries has
dropped dramatically. One of those pros would be that OSHA has strict
guidelines that do not have many gray areas. Therefore companies can be
expected to provide a generally safe environment to work at, because
OSHA has clear guidelines. Another pro would be that contacting OSHA
about a problem or a question is fairly easy to do so, and the needed
contact information and ways to contact them are readily available. Also
given the situation that is presented, OSHA can conduct inspections
without any notice to companies. This is beneficial because if there is an
ongoing problem and the company has notice that an inspection is to be
conducted, then the company could potentially temporally fix the problem.
Also OSHA provides inspections that are on-site or by fax/phone, which
allows OSHA to perform more effectively and does not take valued time
away from the company that is being inspected, this is relevant though to
the type of investigation that is being conducted.
With every pro, there are cons that follow, and yes even OSHA has
some cons. One of issues that I feel could be presented as a con is the fact
that OSHA standards do not cover state workers, unless it is in a state plan
state, self-employer workers, and family farm workers. In the current state
of our economy there are many people that are becoming self employed
and have employees that work for them. Also sense the time that OSHA
was conducted, the way companies handle business and conduct work
have changed enormously while the standard guidelines have stayed the
same. This can make some companies feel that they are difficult to apply
with because they are outdated and do not apply to the current business
economy. One of the pros, having clearly stated guidelines with not many
gray areas, presents a con itself; that would be that the guidelines are not
flexible. Also a company can implement all the guidelines and focus hours
of training on safety, but you can never remove the risk 100 percent.

3. I think that OSHA works to enforce safety regulations when the situation
percents an imminent danger. I think that an organization such as OSHA is
too broad to focus on all the possible dangers that can be present. I think
that by providing guidelines for companies to follow they are doing what
they can and then are leaving the ultimate safety issues to be handled with
the company its self, making the company accountable. I feel that OSHA
focusing imminent dangers is a good practice because those are the
dangers that could affect many people.
Sources:
http://www.OSHA.gov
http://www.Safetytrainers.com/blog/bid/3593/Do-I-have-to-worry-about-
OSHA-Has-OSHA-ever-visited-your-business