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

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.

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Dow Chemical’s representative at the initial fact-finding hearing.
02/15/1974 | Full Details | Law(s): Occupational Safety and Health Act, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA Vinyl Chloride Standard

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.

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Rep. Anne M. Northup (KY-R), The New York Times.
03/08/2001 | Full Details | Law(s): Ergonomics Standard (2000), Occupational Safety and Health Act, Occupational Safety and Health Administration

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

Our concern is that too many regulatory bodies are reacting to this need and that divergent or contradictory rules would be established which would in effect create chaos for the designers, builders and operators.

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Max Spencer, of the Continental Grain Company. Testimony. OSHA hearings.
04/22/1980 | Full Details | Law(s): Occupational Safety and Health Act, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA Grainhandling Standard
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