ABSTRACT
The OSH Act of 1970 requires specific recordkeeping requirements for most private-sector employers. Safety and health records are important for many reasons. The OSHA law requires most employers with ten or more full-time employees to keep a yearly log of all work-related injuries and illnesses. OSHA also requires employers to maintain accurate individual employee medical records. In its Respiratory Protection Program, OSHA makes it perfectly clear that no worker can be required to wear a respirator until he or she has been certified physically fit by a licensed medical doctor to do so. The purpose of the medical examination and certification of fitness to wear a respirator is to ensure that workers who do have medical problems are not put under severe stress caused by wearing a respirator. When workers wear a respirator while performing work in a confined space, for example, they may put their bodies under unusual (not normal) stress.
