OSHA's Asbestos Standard
Over an eight-hour work day, the OSHA Asbestos standard mandates that no worker may be exposed to 0.1 asbestos fibers per cubic centimeter of air. Over a half hour period, workers cannot be exposed to 1.0 asbestos fibers per cubic centimeter of air. OSHA's original 1972 standard set a 2 fiber exposure limit (which the industry claimed was technically infeasible), but it proved ineffective at protecting worker health. In 1986, the standard was lowered to .2 fibers, and then .1 fibers as a result of union litigation. The American asbestos industry collapsed soon afterwards following a wave of health and safety related litigation.
Cry Wolf Quotes
There will no doubt be cases where the technology is available to reduce levels to two fibers, but where the cost involved would make a particular product line either no longer profitable or no longer competitive on the open market....In these cases, the plant or manufacturing operation would also be shut down.
To the extent that it makes the manufacture of asbestos materials in the United States technologically unfeasible or uneconomic, it will force the purchase abroad of products for which there is no-asbestos substitute, with consequential losses in profit, increases in unemployment, and deterioration in the nation’s balance of payments.
If there is no danger of the airborne concentrations exceeding those provided in Section (a) of the standard, we feel that there should be no need to alarm employees with inflammatory arid suggestive signs. Industry would be opened up to hazard pay and workman’s compensation claims, even though no special care or protection is required in the workplace.
Let me state, first, that achievement of a standard of 2 fibers per cc is not, at the present time, technically feasible in all areas of our manufacturing operations. Thus, I cannot estimate fully the total final economic impact on our business, or the total final capital investment required.
Evidence
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Applying Quality Criteria to Exposure in Asbestos Epidemiology Increases the Estimated Risk
The government of the Netherlands recently decided that their occupational exposure limit to asbestos was still too high. The Health Council of the Netherlands proposed dropping the limit from .01 percent to .002 percent. OSHA's occupational limit is .1 percent.
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Industry Opposition to Government Regulation
The real costs of specific regulations, in chart form.
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The Going-Out-Of-Business Myth
OMB Watch debunks the cry wolf claims made against specific regulations, in chart form.
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Behind the Numbers: Polluted Data
Almost everyone (including regulators) overestimates the costs of regulation.
Backgrounders & Briefs
Gauging Control Technology and Regulatory Impacts in Occupational Safety and Health
Information on multiple OSHA regulations and their costs. In almost every case, the regulations were far cheaper than the agency estimated.
