Final answer:
OSHA's purpose is to ensure safe working conditions by setting and enforcing standards and providing training and assistance. It applies to a range of hazards in the workplace and requires employers to engage in various protective and preventive measures.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Purpose of OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was established to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for workers by setting and enforcing standards, as well as providing training, outreach, education, and assistance. It is an agency under the United States Department of Labor and was signed into law on December 29, 1970. OSHA's standards are designed to protect workers from a wide range of hazards including but not limited to: fall protection, trenching cave-ins, infectious diseases, confined space dangers, harmful chemical exposure, and machine guarding. Additionally, OSHA is responsible for engaging with the public to create standards, requiring employers to provide personal protective equipment, and requiring notification of workplace fatalities and certain injuries.
Employers must also provide safety training in a language and vocabulary that workers can understand, keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses, and provide required medical tests as per OSHA standards. They must display OSHA citations and the official OSHA poster that describes the rights and responsibilities under the OSH Act. Moreover, under the General Duty Clause, employers are required to keep their workplace free of serious recognized hazards.