The Occupational Safety And Health Administration

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Over the history of time, there have always been work related issues between employers and employees. Even after President Lincoln’s abolishment of slavery and the passing of legislation dealing with the Equal Rights and discrimination, work related issues dealing with health and safety have been developed and questioned by the Government. As technology increases, more jobs become available and create larger work forces, which increases the probability of arising occupational health and safety issues. In response to the growing demand for such assistance, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was formed.

Created by “Congress under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970, its mission is to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths by issuing and enforcing rules (called standards) for workplace safety and health.” (wikipedia.com) The creation of this Administration had created standards and requirements for all industries in the United States and has been in effect since April 28, 1971.

The history of safety legislation dates back to the Progressive period of the United States.

“In 1893, Congress passed the Safety Appliance Act, the first federal statute to require safety equipment in the workplace (the law applied only to railroad equipment, however).[4] In 1910, in response to a series of highly-publicized and deadly mine explosions and collapses, Congress established the federal Bureau of Mines to conduct research into mine safety (although the Bureau had no authority to regulate mine safety).[6] Backed by trade unions, many states also enacted workers' compensation laws which discouraged employers from permitting unsafe workplaces.[5] These laws, as well as the growing power of labor unions and public anger toward poor workplace safety, led to significant reductions in worker accidents for a time.”

After time, due to the exploding immigrant population and the growing technology and work force, the industrial production of the United States steadily grew. As the country became included in World War two, industrial production soared, creating more jobs, as well as more possibilities for accidents. “Winning the war took precedence over safety, and most labor unions were more concerned with maintaining wages in the face of severe inflation than with workplace health and safety. After the war ended, however, workplace accident rates remained high and began to rise.” (wikipedia.com) Furthermore, the chemical revolution of the world created both new and increased health defects to those with jobs involving new dangerous compounds.

Because the safety hazards of the new chemicals were unrecognized, both employers and employees were ignorant to their possible effects from contact, resulting in prolonged exposure. Although “a few states, such as California and New York, had enacted workplace safety as well as workplace health legislation, most states had not changed their workplace protection laws since the turn of the century,” (wikipedia.com) leaving the majority of workers unprotected in many aspects. This lead to President Lyndon Johnson attempting to create a bill that provided the development of occupational safety standards. The proposed bill then bounced back and forth between the democratic and republican parties, where inclusions by both parties modified the effects of the act. Although unsuccessful, this provided guidelines for President Richard Nixon to sign the Occupational Safety and Health act on December of 1970, “which gave the Federal Government the authority to set and enforce safety and health standards for most of the country's workers.” (wikipedia.com)

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration serves two primary functions: “setting standards and conducting workplace inspections to ensure that employers are complying with the standards and providing a safe and healthful workplace.” (ehso.com) The standards that are set by OSHA demand that employers guarantee workplace safety through adopting methods, practices, processes, and a mean of standards for their employees. It is required for the employers to inform their employees of these standards so they are knowledgeable of what is considered proper workplace safety. “Employees must comply with all rules, regulations and standards that are applicable to their own actions and conduct. (ehso.com) Furthermore, to evaluate the enforcement its standards, OSHA is authorized under the OSH Act to conduct workplace inspections, evaluate the extent of the violations, and issue penalties based on those extents.

“Federal OSHA standards fall into four major categories:

- General industry

- Construction

- Maritime

- Agriculture

Each of these four categories of standards imposes requirements that are targeted to that industry, although in some cases they are identical across industries. Among the standards that impose similar requirements on all industry sectors are those for access to medical and exposure records, personal protective equipment, and hazard communication.” (ehso.com)

Permitting access to medical and exposure records means that employers grant employees access to any of their medical records maintained by the employer. For example, “any records the employer maintains on the employees' exposure to toxic substances.” (ehso.com) One of the most important standards that is crucial when protecting from work related injuries is the standard on personal protective equipment. “This standard, included separately in the standards for each industry segment requires that employers provide employees, at no cost to employees, with personal protective equipment designed to protect them against certain hazards.” (ehso.com) For example, hearing protection, eye goggles, back braces, hand protection and helmets.

The standard for hazard communication establishes the necessity for a hazard evaluation all products manufactured and imported. This has been especially important since the “chemical revolution” due to the large amounts of over exposure incidents that were accounted for. The “general duty” clause of OSHA makes employers liable for areas which OSHA has not “promulgated a standard addressing