OSHA

OSHA

Commentary

"What did we set up the government for?"

May 31, 2011

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.

-
F. Sadler Love, Secretary-Treasurer of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute, The Washington Post.

Nobody has proven cotton dust is a source of disease….In forty years, we’ve not had one single employee…disabled because of a respiratory problem.

-
William Pitts owner of the 80 year old Hermitage Mills, located in Camden South Carolina.

Rulemaking should not be based on conditions that existed in the past, but should be based on conditions as they exist now...we believe a temporary emergency standard would result in polarization rather than constructive definition of areas of concern and constructive problem solving.

-
Dow Chemical’s representative at the initial fact-finding hearing.

You're creating an enormously expensive regulation without true evidence of what we will get out of it. You're creating an enormous cost that will only have the effect of pushing jobs offshore.

-
Rep. Anne M. Northup (KY-R), The New York Times.