Worker safety and health

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Worker safety and health is the prevention and reduction of the number of occupational safety and health hazards at the places of employment, providing safe and healthful working conditions.

For this, one uses :

Occupational Safety and Health "Standard", this is, a standard which requires conditions, or the adoption or use of one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes, reasonably necessary or appropriate to provide safe or healthful employment and places of employment.
"National consensus standard" is any occupational safety and health standard or modification thereof which:

has been adopted and promulgated by a nationally recognized standards-producing organization under procedures whereby it can be determined by the Secretary of Labor that persons interested and affected by the scope or provisions of the standard have reached substantial agreement on its adoption,
was formulated in a manner which afforded an opportunity for diverse views to be considered and
has been designated as such a standard by the Secretary, after consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies.

Established Federal standards are any operative occupational safety and health standard established by any agency of the United States and presently in effect, or contained in any Act of Congress in force on the date of enactment of OSH Act of 1970.

Each employer:

shall furnish to each of his/her employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to the employees (this is free from occupational harzards);
shall comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under the OSH Act.

Each employee shall comply with occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations, and orders issued pursuant to the OSH Act which are applicable to his/her own actions and conduct.

Health and safety at work is one of the EU’s most important social policy areas. It is also one of the most challenging: every five seconds an EU worker is involved in a work-related accident, and every two hours one worker dies in an accident at work. Addressing the diversity of occupational safety and health (OSH) issues and the need for increased awareness at workplace level are beyond the resources and expertise of a single Member State. That is why in 1996 the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up: to collect, analyse and promote OSH-related information. The Agency’s mission is to make Europe’s workplaces safer, healthier and more productive, and in particular to promote an effective prevention culture. The Agency, located in Bilbao, Spain, has a dedicated staff of specialists in OSH, communication and public administration. At the national level, a network of ‘focal points’, typically the lead OSH organisations in their respective countries, represents the Agency. The focal points work through tripartite networks made up of representatives of government, employers and workers. This tripartite structure is also reflected in the composition of the Agency’s Governing Board.