Background

The OSH Act obligated the Secretary of Labor to protect occupational safety and health as required by the act. However, the act also created the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, and thus the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA"), to whom the Secretary of Labor has delegated responsibility for his obligations under the act. The OSH Act also created the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission ("OSHRC") —an adjudicatory agency that is independent of the Department of Labor and therefore OSHA—that is tasked with reviewing OSHA enforcement actions (i.e., citations and penalties). First, Section 5(a)(1) of the act, the so-called "General Duty Clause," requires all employers, regardless of industry, to provide workplaces that are free of potentially harmful hazards. The General Duty Clause and OSHA's workplace safety standards are treated the same for purposes of complaints, inspections, and citations. Additionally, OSHA can seek appeal of an OSHRC order.
Through the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 ("OSH Act" or "act"), Congress sought a nationwide approach to regulating workplace accidents and injuries. The act authorizes the Secretary of Labor to create and enforce workplace safety standards. Additionally, the act contains a "General Duty Clause," also enforced by the Secretary of Labor, which generally requires employers to provide workplaces that are free of potentially harmful hazards. The act created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") and an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, to whom the Secretary of Labor has delegated his enforcement rights and obligations under the act. The act also established the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission ("OSHRC"), an adjudicatory agency independent of the Department of Labor, and therefore OSHA, that is tasked with reviewing enforcement actions. OSHA enforces its standards and the General Duty Clause through inspections, citations, and penalties. Employers can seek review of OSHA enforcement actions first with OSHRC and then with U.S. Courts of Appeals.