Occupational Safety and Health Act

The Occupational Safety and Health Act is a United States federal law signed by President Richard M. Nixon on December 29, 1970.

The Act can be found in the United States Code at title 29, chapter 15. The Occupational Safety and Health Act was created to protect worker and health. Its main aim was to ensure that employers provide their workers with an environment free from dangers to their safety and health, such as exposure to toxic chemicals, excessive noise levels, mechanical dangers, heat or cold stress, or unsanitary conditions.

The Act created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an agency of the United States Department of Labor, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a research institute in the then Centers for Disease Control, and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), an administrative judicial agency.