U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

About the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA for short, is a Federal government agency responsible for ensuring the safety and health of private-sector and Federal postal workers in all states, in the workplace and elsewhere on the job.

Most private-sector workers are also protected by OSHA-approved state-equivalent agencies.

State and municipal public-sector workers are protected by the state-equivalent agencies. Federal workers other than postal employees are protected by the government agencies for which they work, under presidential executive order. Maritime workers are protected by OSHA's Office of Maritime and miners are protected by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

OSHA is a division of the U.S. Department of Labor. It sets and enforces Federal safety and health standards under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act or OSHA).

Filing Safety and Health Complaints with OSHA

Protected workers who believe that their employers are endangering their safety or health, may file complaints with OSHA (or a state equivalent). Workers who file complaints ("whistleblowers") may ask OSHA not to reveal their names to their employers.

Regardless, employers may not rightfully retaliate against whistleblowers who file safety or health complaints with OSHA.

To file complaints and be protected from employer retaliation, workers need only to reasonably believe that their employers are violating safety and health standards. Workers don't need to know for sure, as it's OSHA's job to investigate alleged violations.

Read Occupational Safety and Health for more information.

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