Occupational Safety and Health Act
The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act was enacted in 1970 to "assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women." The OSH Act created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at the federal level and provided that states could run their own safety and health programs as long as those programs were at least as effective as the federal program. It also created the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, to review the agency’s regulations, and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to research necessary areas of focus.
Cry Wolf Quotes
The Act broadly authorizes the Secretary to grab any police powers in the occupational health and safety fields that are now held by states. State safety officials could be forced to report directly to the federal Secretary when he says so.
The human factor is the most important cause of accidents and injuries. It has been estimated that 75 to 85 percent of all such occurrences have been caused by a negligent or unsafe act on the part of an individual...This cannot be [fixed] through legislation.
The industry representatives also object to a requirement in [the Democratic] bill that employers provide ‘a place of employment which is safe and healthful’ as being ‘vague and undefined’ and possibly unconstitutional.
Each grain handling facility is unique, and the state of the art is constantly changing. Further, historically very little scientific research has been done on some of the fundamental questions involved in grain dust explosions.
