Usc 651

§ 651

TITLE 29—LABOR

Sec.

652.
653.

654.
655.
656.
657.
658.
659.
660.
661.
662.
663.
664.
665.
666.
667.
668.
669.
669a.
670.
671.
671a.
672.
673.
674.

675.

676.
677.
678.

Definitions.
Geographic applicability; judicial enforcement; applicability to existing standards;
report to Congress on duplication and coordination of Federal laws; workmen’s compensation law or common law or statutory
rights, duties, or liabilities of employers
and employees unaffected.
Duties of employers and employees.
Standards.
Administration.
Inspections,
investigations,
and
recordkeeping.
Citations.
Enforcement procedures.
Judicial review.
Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Injunction proceedings.
Representation in civil litigation.
Disclosure of trade secrets; protective orders.
Variations, tolerances, and exemptions from
required provisions; procedure; duration.
Civil and criminal penalties.
State jurisdiction and plans.
Programs of Federal agencies.
Research and related activities.
Expanded research on worker health and safety.
Training and employee education.
National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health.
Workers’ family protection.
Grants to States.
Statistics.
Audit of grant recipient; maintenance of records; contents of records; access to books,
etc.
Annual reports by Secretary of Labor and
Secretary of Health and Human Services;
contents.
Omitted.
Separability.
Authorization of appropriations.

§ 651. Congressional statement of findings and
declaration of purpose and policy
(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—
(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

Page 148

interstate commerce, and by creating an Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission for carrying out adjudicatory functions
under this chapter;
(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;
(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 chapter, 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 chapter 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.
(Pub. L. 91–596, § 2, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1590.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), (11), and
(12), was in the original ‘‘this Act’’, meaning Pub. L.
91–596, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1590, as amended. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short
Title note set out under this section and Tables.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Section 34 of Pub. L. 91–596 provided that: ‘‘This Act
[enacting this chapter and section 3142–1 of Title 42,

Page 149

The Public Health and Welfare, amending section 553 of
this title, sections 5108, 5314, 5315, and 7902 of Title 5,
Government Organization and Employees, sections 633
and 636 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade, section 1114 of
Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure, and section
1421 of former Title 49, Transportation, and enacting
provisions set out as notes under this section and section 1114 of Title 18] shall take effect one hundred and
twenty days after the date of its enactment [Dec. 29,
1970].’’
SHORT TITLE OF 1998 AMENDMENT
Pub. L. 105–197, § 1, July 16, 1998, 112 Stat. 638, provided that: ‘‘This Act [amending section 670 of this
title] may be cited as the ‘Occupational Safety and
Health Administration Compliance Assistance Authorization Act of 1998’.’’
SHORT TITLE
Section 1 of Pub. L. 91–596 provided: ‘‘That this Act
[enacting this chapter and section 3142–1 of Title 42,
The Public Health and Welfare, amending section 553 of
this title, sections 5108, 5314, 5315, and 7902 of Title 5,
Government Organization and Employees, sections 633
and 636 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade, section 1114 of
Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure, and section
1421 of former Title 49, Transportation, and enacting
provisions set out as notes under this section and section 1114 of Title 18] may be cited as the ‘Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970’.’’

§ 652. Definitions
For the purposes of this chapter—
(1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ mean 1 the Secretary of Labor.
(2) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission established under this chapter.
(3) The term ‘‘commerce’’ means trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, or communication among the several States, or between a
State and any place outside thereof, or within
the District of Columbia, or a possession of
the United States (other than the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands), or between points
in the same State but through a point outside
thereof.
(4) The term ‘‘person’’ means one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, business trusts, legal representatives, or
any organized group of persons.
(5) The term ‘‘employer’’ means a person engaged in a business affecting commerce who
has employees, but does not include the
United States (not including the United States
Postal Service) or any State or political subdivision of a State.
(6) The term ‘‘employee’’ means an employee
of an employer who is employed in a business
of his employer which affects commerce.
(7) The term ‘‘State’’ includes a State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa,
Guam, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific
Islands.
(8) The term ‘‘occupational safety and
health standard’’ means a standard which requires conditions, or the adoption or use of
one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes, reasonably necessary or
appropriate to provide safe or healthful employment and places of employment.
1 So

§ 653

TITLE 29—LABOR

in original. Probably should be ‘‘means’’.

(9) The term ‘‘national consensus standard’’
means any occupational safety and health
standard or modification thereof which (1),2
has been adopted and promulgated by a nationally recognized standards-producing organization under procedures whereby it can be
determined by the Secretary that persons interested and affected by the scope or provisions of the standard have reached substantial
agreement on its adoption, (2) was formulated
in a manner which afforded an opportunity for
diverse views to be considered and (3) has been
designated as such a standard by the Secretary, after consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies.
(10) The term ‘‘established Federal standard’’ means any operative occupational safety
and health standard established by any agency
of the United States and presently in effect, or
contained in any Act of Congress in force on
December 29, 1970.
(11) The term ‘‘Committee’’ means the National Advisory Committee on Occupational
Safety and Health established under this chapter.
(12) The term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director
of the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health.
(13) The term ‘‘Institute’’ means the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health established under this chapter.
(14) The term ‘‘Workmen’s Compensation
Commission’’ means the National Commission
on State Workmen’s Compensation Laws established under this chapter.
(Pub. L. 91–596, § 3, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1591;
Pub. L. 105–241, § 2(a), Sept. 28, 1998, 112 Stat.
1572.)
AMENDMENTS
1998—Par. (5). Pub. L. 105–241 inserted ‘‘(not including
the United States Postal Service)’’ after ‘‘the United
States’’.
TERMINATION OF TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC
ISLANDS
For termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, see note set out preceding section 1681 of Title
48, Territories and Insular Possessions.
TERMINATION OF ADVISORY COMMITTEES
Advisory committees in existence on January 5, 1973,
to terminate not later than the expiration of the 2-year
period following January 5, 1973, unless, in the case of
a committee established by the President or an officer
of the Federal Government, such committee is renewed
by appropriate action prior to the expiration of such 2year period, or in the case of a committee established
by the Congress, its duration is otherwise provided by
law. See section 14 of Pub. L. 92–463, Oct. 6, 1972, 86
Stat. 776, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

§ 653. Geographic applicability; judicial enforcement; applicability to existing standards; report to Congress on duplication and coordination of Federal laws; workmen’s compensation law or common law or statutory rights,
duties, or liabilities of employers and employees unaffected
(a) This chapter shall apply with respect to
employment performed in a workplace in a
2 So

in original. The comma probably should not appear.