NATIONAL NEWS RELEASE
Date: August 27, 2002

OSHA ANNOUNCES RESTRUCTURING PLAN
Features include increased outreach, new office for small business

WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced today a restructuring and realignment of the Agency. The reorganization features the creation of a new Office of Small Business, which will be part of an overall change in the Agency's structure that for the first time will establish a separate organization in OSHA to coordinate compliance assistance activities.

"The workers in this country, and the businesses and organizations that employ them, deserve the very best performance from OSHA," said John L. Henshaw, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. "This reorganization realigns our resources and functions around proven strategies that will produce the best results in reducing workplace injuries and illnesses."

The new dedicated compliance assistance organization, the Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs, formalizes OSHA's efforts to expand compliance programs, training, outreach and education programs, and create an organization that builds on and expands the knowledge and successes of the compliance assistance programs currently in place. In addition to the new Office of Small Business Assistance, other new offices created by the reorganization include the Office of Partnerships and Recognition and the Office of Outreach Services and Alliances, both designed to reach out to the business and employer communities.

A second feature of the restructuring is the consolidation of the Directorates of Safety and Health Standards into one unified organization that will address both regulatory and non-regulatory approaches for safety and health standards and guidelines. This change streamlines OSHA rulemaking by integrating all safety and health standards development activity within one organization. The agency will also rename its Directorate of Compliance Programs as the Directorate of Enforcement to clarify and emphasize the strong enforcement that will continue to be pursued under the new restructuring.

"These changes will also enable OSHA to more effectively accomplish the agendas articulated by President Bush and Secretary Chao," said Henshaw, "as well as meet our four strategic program priorities: strong, fair, effective enforcement; expanded compliance assistance, education and outreach; expanded partnerships and voluntary efforts; and national leadership in promoting the value of occupational safety and health."

Other changes taking place under the restructuring plan include replacing the Directorate of Policy with the Directorate of Evaluation and Analysis to better monitor and measure the agency's performance and to track its progress against strategic objectives, and changing the name of the Directorate of Technical Support to the Directorate of Science, Technology and Medicine.

###