Regulations that are put in place by OSHA

In manufacturing OSHA is one of the federal agencies that are involved in determining the regulations that manufacturing business must follow. The majority of regulations that OSHA devises are regulations that are designed to protect the employees in the workplace. OSHA also institutes regulations that are designed to tell employees and their managers what should be done in certain situations.

When it comes to manufacturing regulations that are put in place by OSHA, not all of them will apply to every manufacturing plant. The reason for this is that the regulations that manufacturing plants must follow are going to vary depending on what the business is manufacturing. For example, a company that deals with chemicals is going to need to follow any regulations that were put in place by OSHA that deal with chemicals, while a manufacturing plant that does not handle chemicals will have to follow different regulations. No matter what type of manufacturing plant you have there are some regulations that everybody is going to need to follow that are put in place by OSHA.

Here is a look at some of the general regulations every manufacturing plant is going to need to conform to.

Number one: Safe work environment
One of the biggest things that OSHA strives to achieve is having a safe work environment. OSHA will pass all sorts of regulations that are designed to make the work environment as safe for employees as possible. The safer your work environment is the fewer accidents that you will have, which means you can keep you costs lower. One of the things that OSHA does to help increase the safety in the work place is to stress having a clean work environment. Having a clean work environment means less stuff getting in the way, plus you will be more organized. The more organized you are the more efficiently you can do your job and the easier you can do your job.

Number two: Clean air control
OSHA also requires that all manufacturing plants must have some type of exhaust system in place. This is important because it helps to keep the air clean from chemicals and dust that can be harmful to your employees. Another section that is covered in the clean air regulation is no smoking allowed indoors because it pollutes the air. Manufacturing plants need to have a certain type of ventilation system in place for their employees' health, but it also helps keep the work place cleaner, which leads to improved safety in the workplace.

Number three: Age requirements
OSHA also deals with age requirements for all types of business because of the safety factors that go into employment. If the work is considered to be dangerous, which manufacturing is considered a higher risk employment, you are not allowed to have teenagers working in the plant. In certain cases, such as driving you will need to have adults over a certain age, usually over the age of 25. Another aspect that is addressed with age requirements is how long people can work, with teenagers they are only allowed to work so many hours per week. They can also only work certain hours when school is in session. With the total hours worked during the week if they are not in session for school they can work longer hours.

The one thing that you need to be aware of is that regulations are always being reformed within the manufacturing industry. To stay up to date with the newest regulatory reforms you will need to visit OSHA's website and research your type of manufacturing business to see if any new regulations have been put into place or if any changes have been made to old regulations on a regular basis.