To qualify for the size exemption under OSHA regulations, how many employees must a company not exceed during the calendar year?

To qualify for the size exemption under OSHA regulations, a company must not exceed 10 employees during the calendar year. This exemption is designed to reduce the administrative burden on smaller businesses while still maintaining a framework for health and safety in the workplace.

Under the OSHA standards, smaller employers generally have fewer resources and may not have the same capacity to implement certain safety programs or maintain compliance as larger organizations. Therefore, the threshold of 10 employees serves as a guideline to allow smaller businesses to focus on essential safety measures without the full scope of OSHA's regulatory requirements applying to them.

This exemption helps to ensure that small businesses can operate without the overwhelming requirement of comprehensive safety plans, which might be more suited to larger organizations that would have the necessary resources and personnel to manage them effectively. Understanding this threshold can help businesses identify their responsibilities under OSHA standards and how they relate to their size and operational capacity.