OSHA began Fiscal Year 2003 with a staff of 2,303 including 1,123 inspectors. The agency's budget request is $454 million.

Under the Bush Administration, OSHA is focusing on three strategies: 1) strong, fair, and effective enforcement; 2) outreach, education, and compliance assistance; and 3) partnerships and voluntary programs.

Strong, Fair, and Effective Enforcement
OSHA's efforts to protect workers' safety and health are built on the foundation of a strong, fair, and effective enforcement program. OSHA seeks to assist the majority of employers who want to do the right thing while focusing its enforcement resources on sites in high hazard industries -- especially those with high injury and illness rates.

Outreach, Education, and Compliance Assistance
OSHA plays a vital role in preventing on-the-job injuries and illnesses through outreach, education, and compliance assistance OSHA offers an extensive website at www.osha.gov. It includes a special section devoted to assisting small business as well as interactive eTools to help employers and employees. For example, the agency provides a broad array of training and information materials on its recordkeeping standard as well as materials to assist employers and workers in understanding and complying with its current steel erection standard. In 2002, OSHA's website received 561 million hits from more than 16 million visitors.

OSHA provides a variety of publications in print and on CD Rom, which are available from OSHA's regional or national offices or the Government Printing Office at http://bookstore.gpo.gov. Employers and employees can call 1-800-321-OSHA for workplace safety and health information or assistance 24 hours a day.

OSHA strives to reach all employers and employees, including those who do not speak English as a first language. OSHA maintains a Spanish Webpage, and Spanish-speaking operators can be reached at the OSHA national hotline between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Additionally, OSHA has established a clearinghouse for various publications, training materials, and videos that are available in Spanish and continues to issue new publications, such as the pamphlet entitled, All About OSHA, in Spanish. Many regional and area offices offer information in other languages such as Japanese, Korean, and Polish.

Free workplace consultations are available in every state to small businesses that want onsite help in establishing safety and health programs and identifying and correcting workplace hazards. In addition, OSHA has a network of 73 Compliance Assistance Specialists in local offices available to provide tailored information and training to employers and employees.

Cooperative Programs
OSHA's Alliance Program enables trade or professional organizations, businesses, labor organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies that share an interest in workplace safety and health to collaborate with OSHA to prevent injuries and illnesses in the workplace. OSHA and the organization sign a formal agreement with goals that address training and education, outreach and communication, and promoting the national dialogue on workplace safety and health.

OSHA's Strategic Partnership Program targets the strategic areas of construction, shipbuilding, food processing, logging, silica and nursing homes and includes partnerships that zero in on specific hazards or include partners in a specific geographic area. These partnerships focus on safety and health programs and include outreach and training components along with enforcement.

The Voluntary Protection Programs, OSHA's premier partnership, continues to pay big dividends. Today VPP worksites save millions each year because their injury and illness rates are more than 50 percent below the averages for their industries.

OSHA Statistics

Worker Injuries/Illnesses/Fatalities for 2001
In 2001, occupational injury and illness rates dropped to the lowest level -- 5.7 cases per 100 workers -- since the U.S. began collecting this information, part of an eight-year downward trend. There were 5.2 million injuries/illnesses among private sector firms.

There were 5,900 worker deaths in 2001, less than one percent fewer than in 2000. Fatalities related to highway incidents, electrocutions, fires and explosions, and contact with objects or equipment all declined. Deaths from job-related falls increased 10 percent while homicides decreased to their lowest levels since the census was first conducted in 1992. These figures do not include fatalities related to the events of 9/11/2001.

Federal Inspections - Fiscal Year 2002
37,493 Inspections

Number Percent Reason for Inspection
9,007 (24%) Complaint/accident related
20,511 (55%) High hazard targeted
7,975 (21%) Referrals, follow-ups, etc.

Number Percent Industry Sector
21,347 (57%) Construction
8,270 (22%) Manufacturing
7,876 (21%) Other industries

In the inspections categorized above, OSHA identified the following violations:

Violations Percent Type Current Penalties

416 (0.5%) Willful1 $11,799,539
54,842 (70%) Serious2 48,312,043
1,969 (2.5%) Repeat3 7,710,736
231 (0.3%) Failure to Abate4 597,301
20,749 (26%) Other5/ 2,145,151
226 (0.3%) Unclassified 2,268,508

78,433 TOTAL $72,827,278

State6 Inspections Fiscal Year 2002

58,402 Inspections Number Percent Reason for Inspection

14,810 (25%) Complaint/accident-related
35,141 (61%) High hazard targeted
8,123 (14%) Referrals, follow-ups, etc.

Number Percent Reason for Inspection

27,363 (47%) Construction
11,060 (19%) Manufacturing
19,651 (34%) Other industries

In the inspections categorized above, state job safety and health plans identified the following violations:

Violations Percent Type Penalties

219 (0.2%) Willful $6,444,925
58,476 (410%) Serious 55,480,047
2,490 (2%) Repeat 5,477,344
646 (0.4%) Failure to Abate 3,185,193
81,219 (56%) Other 4,690,873
23 (0.2%) Unclassified 593,500

144,075 TOTAL $75,871,882

OSHA Consultations - FY 2002
17,726

Training
3,085 students at the OSHA Training Institute
14,500 students at 12 OSHA Education Centers
65,000 students under OSHA training grants
254,403 students trained through the OSHA outreach training program

Cooperative Programs - FY 2002
Alliance Program: 8 national alliances

Strategic Partnership Program: 167 open partnerships 3,550 employers 200,000 employees

Voluntary Protection Programs (federal only):
637 sites more than 180 industries 416,000 employee