The Importance of OSHA in America
...otect workers of any field, in almost every situation. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, outlines numerous standards for each occupation. These regulations act as laws that must be followed by every employer in our country. The US Department of Labor runs regular inspections on all places of employment to certify that every standard is being followed properly, and if it is not, the organization is suspended or shut down. These specific laws have been immensely helpful to workers, as they can refer to them personally, making sure that they are receiving totally fair and safe treatment at all times. The OSHA Standards have impacted our society greatly, as they have completely guaranteed all workers their just treatment and protection. In the field of health care, OSHA is also the main regulating body. Because health care professionals face so much danger to their well-being in caring for infectious or unstable patients, OSHA has made rigid standards that dictate how every process carried out on a patient by a health care professional, no matter how minute, must be executed. One of the most dangerous jobs done by a health care professional is dealing with the blood, semen, or other bodily fluids of patients potentially suffering from an infectious disease. If the professional were to have an open wound of any sort and were to come in direct contact with infected fluid, they too could become infected with the disease. Because of this grave danger to the health care worker, OSHA has outlined procedures for needle stick procedures and for dealing with the fluids. Standard 1910.1030 utilizes multiple pages of specific guidelines to outline exactly how each piece of the procedure should be carried out. While this is only one example of the many specific regulations OSHA places on health care facilities, it gives...