Regulations & Compliance Questions and Answers

Compliance with regulations is an incredibly important part of creating a safe work environment for employees—as it not only prevents injuries and death, it also prevents the company from incurring any fines from OSHA. There are several standard setting organizations that create voluntary standards for industry to follow if they so choose. The catch is that some of these voluntary standards are either mandated by OSHA or fall under the good manufacturing practice that can still be cited by OSHA and result in a fine if not followed.  

Topics covered:
We’re here to help you with getting to know the most common standard and regulation setting bodies, and what they do for the safety community. Some of the topics that we will be covering in this section include:

• Defining GMP: GMP stands for good manufacturing process. This is essentially the “golden rule” for running any type of facility. The employers have a duty to provide employees with the safest environment possible, and when that is not attained, they may be punished by OSHA.
• The difference between ISO and OSHA: Both organizations have a role to play in creating standards and regulations. However, the difference is settled by the fact that ISO is focused on global safety issues and creates voluntary standards, while OSHA is specific to the nation and can enforce its regulations.
• Why voluntary standards are not voluntary: This comes back to good manufacturing practice. Standards that have been created have been proven to be successful in its specific safety goals, which is why oftentimes companies still choose to follow them even though it’s not necessary.