Good question, and the answer is probably that complying with the regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) probably requires constant vigilance.

An Office of Compliance inspection recently showed that 70 percent of all Congressional offices exhibit employee workplace safety violations. The good news is that most of the infractions are minor compared to the inspection in 2007, which found serious fire hazards such as "blocked sprinkler heads." This year, the inspection uncovered 1.75 hazards per office average, whereas in 2007 the comparable figure was 8.15!

There are 541 offices in Congress, and just 154 of them were found to be fully compliant with OSHA standards. As recently as 2006, only seven offices were in compliance.

Best way to master OSHA? It’s not easy, but Personnel Concepts offers a good reference and starting point with its OSHA Answer Book. Get yours today and get in compliance.