ABSTRACT
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published guidance documents for the health care and retail industries and has the catch-all "General Duty Clause" which mandates employers create and maintain a safe and healthful workplace. The OSH Act covers virtually every American workplace that employs one or more employees and engages in a business that in any way affects interstate commerce. In the OSH Act, the Congress provided for civil and criminal penalties for employers who failed to comply with the promulgated standards and regulations. Each state can request and be granted the right to adopt state safety and health regulations and enforcement mechanisms. OSHA is one of the most widely known and powerful enforcement agencies. It has been granted broad regulatory powers to promulgate regulations and standards, investigate and inspect, issue citations, and propose penalties for safety violations in the workplace. The most severe monetary penalties under the OSHA penalty structure are for willful violations.
