Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, commonly known as OSHA, was established in response to growing concerns over workplace safety and health issues exacerbated by labor-management disputes. Its primary aim is to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for employees across various industries in the United States, extending coverage to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other federal territories, but excluding certain sectors such as self-employed individuals and specific government employees. OSHA's two main functions are the development of safety standards and the enforcement of those standards through workplace inspections. Employers are responsible for adhering to these standards, which include providing necessary personal protective equipment and ensuring employees have access to information about hazardous materials.
OSHA also grants employees certain rights, such as the ability to report unsafe conditions confidentially and participate in inspections. The agency's enforcement mechanisms can impose fines and sanctions for violations, which may be appealed. Since its inception, OSHA has played a crucial role in fostering both management commitment and employee involvement in workplace safety initiatives, thereby enhancing overall protection for workers.
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Subject Terms
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
Identification U.S. federal legislation
Date Signed into law on December 29, 1970
The Occupational Safety and Health Act was designed to ensure the safety and health of American workers. It established the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and transformed the enforcement of safety and health standards from a state function to a federal one.
Growing out of labor-management disputes and resistance, OSHA was created by legislation in 1970 to set specific industry standards strengthened by its oversight provisions. OSHA had two principal functions: setting standards and conducting workplace inspections to ensure that employers were complying with the standards and providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. The act extended to all employers and their employees in the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and all other territories under federal government jurisdiction. The act did not cover self-employed persons; farms that employed immediate family members of the farmer; working conditions regulated by other federal agencies, such as mining, nuclear energy and nuclear weapons manufacture, and many segments of the transportation industry; and employees of state and local governments.
OSHA standards sometimes required employers to adopt certain practices to protect workers on the job. It would be the employer’s responsibility to become familiar with applicable standards and to comply with them. States with OSHA-approved job safety and health programs were to set standards at least as effective as the equivalent federal standard.
Federal OSHA standards for all industries required that employees have access to their medical records maintained by the employer regarding employees’ exposure to toxic substances. Each industry segment had to provide employees with personal protective equipment designed to protect them against certain hazards, such as helmets to prevent head injuries in construction, eye shields and ear protection for welders, and gauntlets for ironworkers. Manufacturers and importers of hazardous materials had to conduct hazard evaluations of the products that they manufactured. If a product was found to be hazardous under the terms of the standard, then containers had to be labeled appropriately and accompanied by a material safety data sheet. Employees had to be trained to recognize and avoid the hazards.
Under OSHA, employees were granted certain rights: to contact the administration about safety and health conditions in their workplaces and have their confidentiality maintained, to contest the time period that OSHA allows for correcting standard violations, and to participate in OSHA workplace inspections.
In order to enforce its standards, OSHA selected compliance and safety officers, chosen for their knowledge and experience in the occupational safety and health area, who were authorized to conduct workplace inspections of establishments covered by the act. States with their own occupational safety and health programs could conduct inspections using qualified state inspectors. Fines and sanctions could be assessed for violations of the act, depending on the severity of the violation. Citations and penalties were reviewable and could be appealed by employees and employers.
Impact
Since its creation in 1970, OSHA has used its resources to stimulate management commitment and employee participation in comprehensive workplace safety and health programs. Its standards have created enforcement mechanisms to protect workplaces and workers.
Bibliography
MacAvoy, Paul W., ed. OSHA Safety Regulation: Report of the Presidential Task Force. Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1977.
Mendeloff, John. Regulating Safety: An Economic and Political Analysis of Occupational Safety and Health Policy. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1979.
Northrup, Herbert R., et al. The Impact of OSHA: A Study of the Effects of the Occupational Safety and Health Act on Three Key Industries—Aerospace, Chemicals, and Textiles. Philadelphia: Industrial Research Unit, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1978.