Skip to main content
OROSHARecord
Programs

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)

The federal agency responsible for enforcing workplace safety and health standards across the United States.

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) is a term from U.S. workplace-safety regulation — typically a category in OSHA enforcement, a citation classification, or a worker-protection concept under the OSH Act. The definition here is the practical worker-facing meaning. Understanding OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) is part of reading OSHA enforcement records defensibly. Citation classifications (serious, willful, repeat, other-than-serious, de minimis) carry meaningfully different implications for both employers and workers, and the worker-relevant interpretation often differs from the strict legal definition.

Each company page on OSHARecord surfaces OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)-relevant data for that specific employer, so the general definition here translates into concrete enforcement-history detail on the per-employer pages workers actually use.

Reviewed by OSHARecord Editorial Team

What It Means

OSHA was created by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and operates under the U.S. Department of Labor. The agency sets and enforces standards for safe working conditions, conducts workplace inspections, investigates complaints and fatalities, and issues citations and penalties when employers fail to meet requirements. OSHA covers most private-sector employers and their workers, as well as some public-sector employers. Twenty-eight states and territories operate their own OSHA-approved state plans that must be at least as effective as federal standards. The agency employs approximately 1,850 inspectors responsible for the safety of roughly 130 million workers at more than 8 million worksites. OSHA also provides training, outreach, education, and compliance assistance to help employers maintain safe workplaces. The agency publishes enforcement data through the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS), which is the primary data source for OSHARecord.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "OSHA" mean in OSHA context?

The federal agency responsible for enforcing workplace safety and health standards across the United States.

Why does OSHA matter for workplace safety?

OSHA was created by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and operates under the U.S. Department of Labor. The agency sets and enforces standards for safe working conditions, conducts workplace inspections, investigates complaints and fatalities, and issues citations and penalties when empl...

Related Terms

OSHA Inspection

An official workplace examination conducted by an OSHA compliance officer to determine whether an employer is meeting safety and health requirements.

General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1))

The OSH Act provision requiring employers to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm.

Citation

A formal written notice issued by OSHA to an employer describing the specific violation, the standard violated, the proposed penalty, and the deadline for correction.

Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP)

An OSHA partnership program that recognizes employers and workers who demonstrate exemplary safety and health management systems.

Learn More

About This Data

Definitions based on OSHA standards, the OSH Act of 1970, and federal enforcement guidance. Penalty amounts reflect 2026 inflation-adjusted maximums. See our methodology.