Occupational Safety and Health Act
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The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is a US labor law governing the
federal law Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a country has a central government as well as regional governments, such as subnational states or provinces, each with constituti ...
of occupational health and safety in the private sector and federal government in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It was enacted by Congress in 1970 and was signed by President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
on December 29, 1970. Its main goal is to ensure that employers provide employees with an environment free from recognized hazards, such as exposure to toxic chemicals, excessive noise levels, mechanical dangers, heat or cold stress, or unsanitary conditions. The Act created the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA; ) is a regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. The United States Congress established ...
(OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The Act can be found in the
United States Code The United States Code (formally The Code of Laws of the United States of America) is the official Codification (law), codification of the general and permanent Law of the United States#Federal law, federal statutes of the United States. It ...
at title 29, chapter 15.


History of federal workplace safety legislation

Few workplace health and safety protections were available through the federal government before the passage of OSHA. The American system of mass production encouraged the use of machinery, while the statutory regime did nothing to protect workplace safety. For most employers, it was cheaper to replace a dead or injured worker than it was to introduce safety measures.Aldrich, Mark. ''Safety First: Technology, Labor and Business in the Building of Work Safety, 1870-1939.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.
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provided little recourse for relief for the survivors of dead workers or for injured employees.Fishback, Price and Shawn Kantor. ''A Prelude to the Welfare State: The Origins of Workers' Compensation.'' New ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. After the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, some improvements were made through the establishment of state railroad and factory commissions, the adoption of new technology (such as the railway air brake), and more widespread availability of
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. But the overall impact of these improvements was minimal. The first federal safety legislation was enacted in the Progressive period. 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). In 1910, in response to a series of highly publicized and deadly mine explosions and collapses, Congress established the United States Bureau of Mines to conduct research into mine safety (although the Bureau had no authority to regulate mine safety). Backed by
trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
s, many states also enacted
workers' compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...
laws which discouraged employers from permitting unsafe workplaces. 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. Industrial production increased significantly in the United States during
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, and industrial accidents soared. 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.Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee. ''Job Safety and Health Act of 1970''. Committee Report No. 91-1282 on S. 2193. 91st Congress, 2d Session (October 6, 1970). After the war ended, however, workplace accident rates remained high and began to rise. In the two years preceding OSHA's enactment, 14,000 workers died each year from workplace hazards, and another 2 million were disabled or harmed. Additionally, the "
chemical revolution In the history of chemistry, the chemical revolution, also called the ''first chemical revolution'', was the reformulation of chemistry during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which culminated in the law of conservation of mass and the ...
" introduced a vast array of new chemical compounds to the manufacturing environment. The health effects of these chemicals were poorly understood, and workers received few protections against prolonged or high levels of exposure.Ashford, Nicholas A. ''Crisis in the Workplace: Occupational Disease and Injury''. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1976. While 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.


Passage

In the mid-1960s, growing awareness of the environmental impact of many chemicals had led to a politically powerful
environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...
. Some labor leaders seized on the public's growing unease over chemicals in the environment, arguing that the effect of these compounds on worker health was even worse than the low-level exposure plants and animals received in the wild.Leopold, Les. ''The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi.'' White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2007. Donnelly, Patrick G. "The Origins of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970." ''Social Problems.'' 30:1 (October 1982). On January 23, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson submitted a comprehensive occupational health and safety bill to Congress. Led by the United States Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, the legislation was widely opposed by business.Page, Joseph A. and O'Brien, Mary-Win. ''Bitter Wages.'' New York: Grossman, 1973. Many labor leaders, including the leadership of the
AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...
, supported the legislation, including testifying in support at congressional hearings. The legislation died in committee. On April 14, 1969, President Richard Nixon introduced two bills into Congress which would have also protected worker health and safety. The Nixon legislation was much less prescriptive than the Johnson bill, and workplace health and safety regulation would be advisory rather than mandatory. However, Representative James G. O'Hara and
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Harrison A. Williams introduced a much stricter bill similar to the Johnson legislation of the year before. Companion legislation introduced in the House also imposed an all-purpose "general duty" clause on the enforcing agency as well. With the stricter approach of the Democratic bill apparently favored by a majority of both chambers, and unions now strongly supporting a bill, Republicans introduced a new, competing bill. The compromise bill established the independent research and standard-setting board favored by Nixon, while creating a new enforcement agency. The compromise bill also gave the
Department of Labor A ministry of labour (''British English, UK''), or labor (''American English, US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workfor ...
the power to litigate on the enforcement agency's behalf (as in the Democratic bill). In November 1970, both chambers acted: The House passed the Republican compromise bill, while the Senate passed the stricter Democratic bill (which now included the general duty clause). A
conference committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...
considered the final bill in early December 1970. Union leaders pressured members of the conference committee to place the standard-setting function in the Department of Labor rather than an independent board. In return, unions agreed to let an independent review commission have veto power over enforcement actions. Unions also agreed to removal of a provision in the legislation which would have let the Secretary of Labor shut down plants or stop manufacturing procedures which put workers in "imminent danger" of harm. In exchange for a Republican proposal to establish an independent occupational health and safety research agency, Democrats won inclusion of the "general duty" clause and the right for union representatives to accompany a federal inspector during inspections. The conference committee bill passed both chambers on December 17, 1970, and President Nixon signed the bill on December 29, 1970. According to the ''New York Times'', labor and environment activist Tony Mazzocchi was a "principal force behind the legislation". The Act went into effect on April 28, 1971 (now celebrated as Workers' Memorial Day by American labor unions).


Description

In passing the Act, Congress declared its intent "to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources." The Act created the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA; ) is a regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. The United States Congress established ...
(OSHA), an agency of the Department of Labor. OSHA was given the authority both to set and enforce workplace health and safety standards. The Act also created the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to review enforcement priorities, actions and cases. The Act also established the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), an independent research institute in the then Department of Health, Education & Welfare now under-
Centers for Disease Control The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...
and Prevention. The Act defines an employer to be any "person engaged in a business affecting commerce who has employees, but does not include the United States or any state or political subdivision of a State." The Act applies to employers as diverse as manufacturers, construction companies, law firms, hospitals, charities, labor unions and private schools. Churches and other religious organizations are covered if they employ workers for secular purposes. The Act excludes the self-employed, family farms, workplaces covered by other federal laws (such as mining, nuclear weapons manufacture, railroads and airlines) and state and local governments (unless state law permits otherwise). The Act covers federal agencies and the
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.Occupational Safety and Health Administration. ''All About OSHA.'' OSHA 3302-06N. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, 2006. Section 5 of the Act contains the " general duty clause." The "general duty clause" requires employers to 1) Maintain conditions or adopt practices reasonably necessary and appropriate to protect workers on the job; 2) Be familiar with and comply with standards applicable to their establishments; and 3) Ensure that employees have and use personal protective equipment when required for safety and health. OSHA has established regulations for when it may act under the "general duty clause." The four criteria are 1) There must be a hazard; 2) The hazard must be a recognized hazard (e.g., the employer knew or should have known about the hazard, the hazard is obvious, or the hazard is a recognized one within the industry); 3) The hazard could cause or is likely to cause serious harm or
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; and 4) The hazard must be correctable (OSHA recognizes not all hazards are correctable). Although theoretically a powerful tool against workplace hazards, it is difficult to meet all four criteria. Therefore, OSHA has engaged in extensive regulatory rule-making to meet its obligations under the law. Due to the difficulty of the rule-making process (which is governed by the Administrative Procedures Act), OSHA has focused on basic mechanical and chemical hazards rather than procedures. Major areas which its standards currently cover are: Toxic substances, harmful physical agents, electrical hazards, fall hazards, hazards associated with trenches and digging, hazardous waste, infectious disease, fire and explosion dangers, dangerous atmospheres, machine hazards, and confined spaces. Section 8 of the Act covers reporting requirements. All employers must report to OSHA within eight hours if an employee dies from a work-related incident, or three or more employees are hospitalized as a result of a work-related incident. Additionally, all fatal on-the-job heart attacks must also be reported. Section 8 permits OSHA inspectors to enter, inspect and investigate, during regular working hours, any workplace covered by the Act. Employers must also communicate with employees about hazards in the workplace. By regulation, OSHA requires that employers keep a record of every non-consumer chemical product used in the workplace. Detailed technical bulletins called material safety data sheets (MSDSs) must be posted and available for employees to read and use to avoid chemical hazards. OSHA also requires employers to report on every injury or job-related illness requiring medical treatment (other than
first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with a medical emergency, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery until medical services arrive. First aid is gener ...
) on OSHA Form 300, "Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses" (known as an "OSHA Log" or "Form 300"). An annual summary is also required and must be posted for three months, and records must be kept for at least five years.Occupational Safety and Health Administration. ''Small Business Handbook.'' OSHA 2209-02R. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, 2005. Section 11(c) of the Act prohibits any employer from discharging, retaliating or discriminating against any employee because the worker has exercised rights under the Act. These rights include complaining to OSHA and seeking an OSHA inspection, participating in an OSHA inspection, and participating or testifying in any proceeding related to an OSHA inspection. Section 18 of the Act permits and encourages states to adopt their own occupational safety and health plans, so long as the state standards and enforcement "are or will be at least as effective in providing safe and healthful employment" as the federal OSH Act. States that have such plans are known as "OSHA States." As of 2007, 22 states and territories operated complete plans and four others had plans that covered only the public sector.


See also

*
United States labor law United States labor law sets the rights and duties for employees, labor unions, and employers in the US. Labor law's basic aim is to remedy the " inequality of bargaining power" between employees and employers, especially employers "organized in ...
* Factory Acts (UK) * Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (Malaysia) * Hazard prevention * Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (UK) * Occupational fatality


Notes


Further reading

* David Rosner, Gerald Markowitz. 2020. “A Short History of Occupational Safety and Health in the United States”, American Journal of Public Health; * De Lia A., Safety at workplace: un’introduzione al tema della sicurezza sui luoghi di lavoro negli Stati Uniti d’America, in www.quotidianolegale.it, dec. 2024, ISSN 2975-1985 (pp. 1–20).


External links


As codified in 29 U.S.C. chapter 15
of the
United States Code The United States Code (formally The Code of Laws of the United States of America) is the official Codification (law), codification of the general and permanent Law of the United States#Federal law, federal statutes of the United States. It ...
from the LII
As codified in 29 U.S.C. chapter 15
of the
United States Code The United States Code (formally The Code of Laws of the United States of America) is the official Codification (law), codification of the general and permanent Law of the United States#Federal law, federal statutes of the United States. It ...
from the
US House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970PDFdetails
as amended in the GPObr>Statute Compilations collection

The official OSHA web site

The official NIOSH web site

"The Job Safety Law of 1970: Its Passage Was Perilous' Official DOL website
{{Authority control 91st United States Congress United States federal labor legislation Act Safety codes Occupational safety and health law 1970 in labor relations 1970 in American law National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health