The growing demand for safety in industries holds immense importance due to growing concerns regarding providing safety to the workers in factories due to continuous exposure to dangerous fumes or toxic gases. The concept of industrial safety arose keeping in view the direct and indirect costs associated with untoward industrial accidents resulting in huge loss of lives.
Direct costs are related to paying a huge amount of hospital bills, worker compensation, and a high insurance premium. In addition, indirect costs are loss of productive time due to the injured worker, time for hiring and training a new or a substitute worker till the return of the injured employee. Also, repairing the damaged equipment or machinery takes a huge amount of time and money resulting in loss of the company output.
In order to avoid such losses, the need for industrial safety services in order to provide protection to workers against particulates and toxic gases in the working environment has been realized for the smooth functioning of plant operation. Furthermore, to maintain industrial safety, there are strict government regulations as well for providing safety to industry personnel.
Image Source: Google
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) was enacted in 1970. The role of OSHA is to help and ensure safe workplaces for men and women. Under the Act, the workers receive training and education regarding hazards in workplaces, prevention methods, and OSHA standards applicable to a particular workplace. All businesses are required to comply with OSHA standards.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a federal agency working on the conduction of research and making recommendations for preventing occupational diseases and injuries at workplaces. Usually, OSHA and NIOSH work in conjunction aiming towards the protection of the safety of the worker and their health. The two organizations were created by the same act of Congress, but these are different agencies with different responsibilities.