(a)
The Congress finds that personal injuries and illnesses arising
out of work situations impose a substantial burden upon, and are a
hindrance to, interstate commerce in terms of lost production,
wage loss, medical expenses, and disability compensation
payments.
(b) The Congress declares it to be its
purpose and policy, through the exercise of its powers to regulate
commerce among the several States and with foreign nations and to
provide for the general welfare, to assure so far as possible
every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful
working conditions and to preserve our human resources --
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29
USC 651
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(1)
by encouraging employers and employees in their efforts to reduce
the number of occupational safety and health hazards at their
places of employment, and to stimulate employers and employees to
institute new and to perfect existing programs for providing safe
and healthful working conditions; (2) by providing that employers
and employees have separate but dependent responsibilities and
rights with respect to achieving safe and healthful working
conditions;
(3) by authorizing the Secretary of Labor
to set mandatory occupational safety and health standards
applicable to businesses affecting interstate commerce, and by
creating an Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission for
carrying out adjudicatory functions under the Act;
(4)
by building upon advances already made through employer and
employee initiative for providing safe and healthful working
conditions;
(5) by providing for research in the field
of occupational safety and health, including the psychological
factors involved, and by developing innovative methods,
techniques, and approaches for dealing with occupational safety
and health problems;
(6) by exploring ways to discover
latent diseases, establishing causal connections between diseases
and work in environmental conditions, and conducting other
research relating to health problems, in recognition of the fact
that occupational health standards present problems often
different from those involved in occupational safety;
(7)
by providing medical criteria which will assure insofar as
practicable that no employee will suffer diminished health,
functional capacity, or life expectancy as a result of his work
experience;
(8) by providing for training programs to
increase the number and competence of personnel engaged in the
field of occupational safety and health; affecting the OSH Act
since its passage in 1970 through January 1, 2004.
(9)
by providing for the development and promulgation of occupational
safety and health standards;
(10) by providing an
effective enforcement program which shall include a prohibition
against giving advance notice of any inspection and sanctions for
any individual violating this prohibition;
(11) by
encouraging the States to assume the fullest responsibility for
the administration and enforcement of their occupational safety
and health laws by providing grants to the States to assist in
identifying their needs and responsibilities in the area of
occupational safety and health, to develop plans in accordance
with the provisions of this Act, to improve the administration and
enforcement of State occupational safety and health laws, and to
conduct experimental and demonstration projects in connection
therewith;
(12) by providing for appropriate reporting
procedures with respect to occupational safety and health which
procedures will help achieve the objectives of this Act and
accurately describe the nature of the occupational safety and
health problem;
(13) by encouraging joint
labor-management efforts to reduce injuries and disease arising
out of employment.
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