OSHA, like most businesses in private industry, is constantly refining its Internet operations. The agency recently issued new internal guidelines for delegating authority and assigning responsibility for managing its online operations. The new policy also defines processes for adding and maintaining online resources.

OSHA’s URL address is: http://www.osha.gov.

OSHA has had a presence on the Internet since 1995 — ages ago in Internet time. OSHA's web servers currently register monthly traffic of more than 800,000 user sessions and 18 million “hits” (March 2000). Here’s how OSHA uses the Net:

• The OSHA Internet makes possible “one stop shopping” for all publicly available OSHA electronic resources, including data bases, publications and documents.

• The Internet also allows OSHA to make available interactive and dynamic applications, including interactive expert advisor software, cyber-conferences, interactive slide presentations, collaborative chat forums and Web boards. In addition, it supports links to useful safety and health information.

• OSHA’s Intranet provides a vehicle to disseminate, within the "OSHA family", program-related information, drafts of work-in-progress, data sets and applications-under-development for comment or collaboration. It also includes compliance assistance materials and training products.

• OSHA’s Extranet (or Limited Access Page) provides access to an OSHA server outside of the firewalls that is only accessible with a username and password. The Extranet provides access to draft information on the OSHA Intranet for state programs and consultation offices that are not connected to the OSHANET.