1.3: OSHA Introduction
- Page ID
- 63093
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Coupled with the efforts of employers, workers, safety and health professionals, unions and advocates, OSHA and its state partners have dramatically improved workplace safety, reducing work-related fatalities by almost 63 percent.
OSHA’s safety and health standards, including those for asbestos, fall protection, cotton dust, trenching, machine guarding, benzene, lead and bloodborne pathogens have prevented countless work-related injuries, illnesses and fatalities. Nevertheless, far too many preventable injuries and fatalities continue to occur. Significant hazards and unsafe conditions still exist in U.S. workplaces; each year more than 3.2 million workers suffer a serious job-related injury or illness. Millions more are exposed to toxic chemicals that may cause illnesses years from now.
In addition to the direct impact on individual workers, the negative consequences for America’s economy are substantial. Occupational injuries and illnesses cost American employers more than $97.4 billion a year in workers’ compensation costs alone. Indirect costs to employers, including lost productivity, employee training and replacement costs, and time for investigations following injuries can more than double these costs. Workers and their families suffer great emotional and psychological costs, in addition to the loss of wages and the costs of caring for the injured, which further weakens the economy.


