OSHA Standards

PART 1904 – Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses

The regulations in this part implement sections 8(c)(1), (2), 8(g)(2), and 24 (a) and (e) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. These sections provide for recordkeeping and reporting by employers covered under the act as necessary or appropriate for enforcement of the act, for developing information regarding the causes and prevention of occupation accidents and illnesses, and for maintaining a program of collection, compilation, and analysis of occupational safety and health statistics. The regulations in this Part were promulgated with the cooperation of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.

PART 1910 – Occupational Safety and Health Standards

Section 6(a) of the Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1593) provides that “without regard to chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, or to the other subsections of this section, the Secretary shall, as soon as practicable during the period beginning with the effective date of this Act and ending 2 years after such date, by rule promulgate as an occupational safety or health standard any national consensus standard, and any established Federal standard, unless he determines that the promulgation of such a standard would not result in improved safety or health for specifically designated employees.” The legislative purpose of this provision is to establish, as rapidly as possible and without regard to the rule-making provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, standards with which industries are generally familiar, and on whose adoption interested and affected persons have already had an opportunity to express their views. Such standards are either (1) national concensus standards on whose adoption affected persons have reached substantial agreement, or (2) Federal standards already established by Federal statutes or regulations.