OSHA

OSHA

Commentary

"What did we set up the government for?"

May 31, 2011

“I can’t see what all this talk is about. How is it wrong for the State to intervene with regard to the working conditions of people who work in the factories and mills? I don’t see what they mean. What did we set up the government for?”     (New York Senator Al Smith during debates regarding new health and safety legislation in the state, 1913)

The UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) co-publishes its eighth Research and Policy Brief, OSHA at 40: Looking Back, Looking Ahead, with the UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH). This brief reviews the accomplishments of OSHA over its 40-year history, highlighting the agency's important role in reducing workplace fatalities and protecting workers in a variety of industries from harm. In the current anti-government political climate, we make the case for robust government regulations backed by scientific evidence and effective enforcement.

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Cry Wolf Quotes

[Only one percent of cotton workers] have a reaction to cotton dust. The problem is grossly exaggerated. There has not been a known death from byssinosis. There are no autopsy findings that prove the existence of byssinosis in an individual. There are subjective symptoms which the patients express that sometimes result from bronchitis, emphysema or excessive smoking.

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F. Sadler Love, Secretary-Treasurer of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute, The Washington Post.
04/28/1977 | Full Details | Law(s): Occupational Safety and Health Act, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA's Cotton Dust Standard

On Friday, June 23, the world ended for some U.S. textile firms.

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Textile World, July, 1978.
07/01/1978 | Full Details | Law(s): Occupational Safety and Health Act, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA's Cotton Dust Standard

This regulation, whenever it is issued and takes effect, will be one of the most far-reaching workplace rules ever issued by any federal agency. Ultimately it will affect every business in the country.

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Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.), chairman of the Senate's Small Business Committee. The Los Angeles Times.
11/23/1999 | Full Details | Law(s): Ergonomics Standard (2000), Occupational Safety and Health Act, Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Repealing the ergonomics regulation will save small businesses billions of dollars that means fewer layoffs, less pay-cuts and economic growth.

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Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-TX), The New York Times, “House Joins Senate in Repealing Rules on Workplace Injuries”.
03/08/2001 | Full Details | Law(s): Ergonomics Standard (2000), Occupational Safety and Health Act, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
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