Final answer:
Nearly every American employee is covered by OSHA or an OSHA-approved state agency, which is true. OSHA sets and enforces standards to ensure workplaces are safe and healthful, requiring employers to mitigate hazards and provide protective equipment when necessary. Employers must also educate and inform their workers about workplace risks.
Step-by-step explanation:
Nearly every American employee is indeed covered by OSHA or an OSHA-approved state agency. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a federal agency responsible for ensuring that employers provide a safe and healthful workplace. It does this by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance. In cases where no specific OSHA standard applies to a hazard, employers must comply with the General Duty Clause of the OSH Act, which requires workplaces to be free of serious recognized hazards.
OSHA's reach extends to many workplaces across the United States, encompassing a range of industries including construction, general industry, maritime, and agriculture. Employers are legally required to follow OSHA's regulations to protect their workers from physical harm, which includes a wide array of hazards such as falls, infectious diseases, chemical exposures, and machinery dangers. When it's not feasible to remove a hazard entirely, employers must reduce it as much as possible and provide personal protective equipment to employees.