Occupational Safety and Health Act (United States)
Safety Appliance Act |
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is a
The Act can be found in the United States Code at title 29, chapter 15.[5]
History of federal workplace safety legislation
Few workplace health and safety protections were available through the federal government before the passage of OSHA.
The first federal safety legislation was enacted in the
Industrial production increased significantly in the United States during World War II, and industrial accidents soared. Winning the war took precedence over safety, and most labor unions were more concerned with maintaining wages in the face of severe inflation than with workplace health and safety.[12] After the war ended, however, workplace accident rates remained high and began to rise. In the two years preceding OSHA's enactment, 14,000 workers died each year from workplace hazards, and another 2 million were disabled or harmed.[13] Additionally, the "chemical revolution" introduced a vast array of new chemical compounds to the manufacturing environment. The health effects of these chemicals were poorly understood, and workers received few protections against prolonged or high levels of exposure.[14][15] While a few states, such as California and New York, had enacted workplace safety as well as workplace health legislation, most states had not changed their workplace protection laws since the turn of the century.[16]
Passage
In the mid-1960s, growing awareness of the environmental impact of many chemicals had led to a politically powerful
On April 14, 1969, President Richard Nixon introduced two bills into Congress which would have also protected worker health and safety.[12] The Nixon legislation was much less prescriptive than the Johnson bill, and workplace health and safety regulation would be advisory rather than mandatory.[14] However, Representative James G. O'Hara and Senator Harrison A. Williams introduced a much stricter bill similar to the Johnson legislation of the year before.[12]
Companion legislation introduced in the House also imposed an all-purpose "general duty" clause on the enforcing agency as well.[12] With the stricter approach of the Democratic bill apparently favored by a majority of both chambers,[12] and unions now strongly supporting a bill,[17][18] Republicans introduced a new, competing bill.[12] The compromise bill established the independent research and standard-setting board favored by Nixon, while creating a new enforcement agency. The compromise bill also gave the Department of Labor the power to litigate on the enforcement agency's behalf (as in the Democratic bill).[12] In November 1970, both chambers acted: The House passed the Republican compromise bill, while the Senate passed the stricter Democratic bill (which now included the general duty clause).[12]
A
The Act went into effect on April 28, 1971 (now celebrated as Workers' Memorial Day by American labor unions).[22][23]
Description
In passing the Act, Congress declared its intent "to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources."[24]
The Act created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an agency of the Department of Labor. OSHA was given the authority both to set and enforce workplace health and safety standards.[14] The Act also created the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to review enforcement priorities, actions and cases.[14]
The Act also established the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), an independent research institute in the then Department of Health, Education & Welfare now under-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[14]
The Act defines an employer to be any "person engaged in a business affecting commerce who has employees, but does not include the United States or any state or political subdivision of a State." The Act applies to employers as diverse as manufacturers, construction companies, law firms, hospitals, charities, labor unions and private schools.
Churches and other religious organizations are covered if they employ workers for secular purposes. The Act excludes the self-employed, family farms, workplaces covered by other federal laws (such as mining, nuclear weapons manufacture, railroads and airlines) and state and local governments (unless state law permits otherwise). The Act covers federal agencies and the United States Postal Service.[25]
Section 5 of the Act contains the "general duty clause." The "general duty clause" requires employers to 1) Maintain conditions or adopt practices reasonably necessary and appropriate to protect workers on the job; 2) Be familiar with and comply with standards applicable to their establishments; and 3) Ensure that employees have and use personal protective equipment when required for safety and health.[25] OSHA has established regulations for when it may act under the "general duty clause." The four criteria are 1) There must be a hazard; 2) The hazard must be a recognized hazard (e.g., the employer knew or should have known about the hazard, the hazard is obvious, or the hazard is a recognized one within the industry); 3) The hazard could cause or is likely to cause serious harm or death; and 4) The hazard must be correctable (OSHA recognizes not all hazards are correctable).
Although theoretically a powerful tool against workplace hazards, it is difficult to meet all four criteria. Therefore, OSHA has engaged in extensive regulatory rule-making to meet its obligations under the law.[26][27]
Due to the difficulty of the rule-making process (which is governed by the
Section 8 of the Act covers reporting requirements. All employers must report to OSHA within eight hours if an employee dies from a work-related incident, or three or more employees are hospitalized as a result of a work-related incident. Additionally, all fatal on-the-job heart attacks must also be reported. Section 8 permits OSHA inspectors to enter, inspect and investigate, during regular working hours, any workplace covered by the Act.
Section 11(c) of the Act prohibits any employer from
Section 18 of the Act permits and encourages states to adopt their own occupational safety and health plans, so long as the state standards and enforcement "are or will be at least as effective in providing safe and healthful employment" as the federal OSH Act. States that have such plans are known as "OSHA States." As of 2007, 22 states and territories operated complete plans and four others had plans that covered only the public sector.[25]
See also
- United States labor law
- Factory Acts (UK)
- Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (Malaysia)
- Hazard prevention
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (UK)
- Occupational fatality
Notes
- ^ "U.S. Department of Labor -- History -- Departmental Timeline". Archived from the original on 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
- ISBN 978-0316260497.
- ^ "29 U.S. Code Chapter 15 - OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
- ^ US EPA, OP (2013-02-22). "Summary of the Occupational Safety and Health Act". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
- ^ "Employment Law Guide - Occupational Safety and Health". webapps.dol.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
- ^ Howard, John (2010). "OSHA Standards-Setting: Past Glory, Present Reality and Future Hope". Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal. 14: 238.
- ISBN 0-8018-3158-X
- ISBN 0-87332-104-9
- ^ ISBN 0-8018-5405-9
- ^ ISBN 0-226-24984-0
- ISBN 0-8131-1339-3
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee. Job Safety and Health Act of 1970. Committee Report No. 91-1282 on S. 2193. 91st Congress, 2d Session (October 6, 1970).
- ^ Stender, John H. "Enforcing the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The Federal Government as a Catalyst." Law and Contemporary Problems. 38:4 (Summer/Autumn 1974).
- ^ ISBN 0-262-01045-3
- ISBN 0-262-13148-X
- ^ Hosey, Andrew D. and Ede, Louise. A Review of State Occupational Health Legislation. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, January 1970.
- ^ ISBN 1-933392-64-9
- ^ a b Donnelly, Patrick G. "The Origins of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970." Social Problems. 30:1 (October 1982).
- ^ a b c d Page, Joseph A. and O'Brien, Mary-Win. Bitter Wages. New York: Grossman, 1973.
- ^ MacLaury, Judson. "The Job Safety Law of 1970: Its Passage Was Perilous".
- ^ Greenhouse, Steven. "Anthony Mazzocchi, 76, Dies; Union Officer and Party Father", October 9, 2002. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
- ^ MacLaury, Judson. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration: A History of its First Thirteen Years, 1971-1984. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, 1984.
- ^ Smith, Sandy. "Kennedy, Murray, Woolsey Relaunch the Protecting America's Workers Act." Occupational Hazards. April 26, 2007.
- ^ 29 USC 651(b).
- ^ a b c d e f Occupational Safety and Health Administration. All About OSHA. OSHA 3302-06N. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, 2006.
- ISBN 0-8342-0984-5
- ISBN 0-471-68231-4
- ^ Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Hazard Communication Guidelines for Compliance. OSHA 3111. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, 2000.
- ^ Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Small Business Handbook. OSHA 2209-02R. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, 2005.
Further reading
- David Rosner, Gerald Markowitz. 2020. “A Short History of Occupational Safety and Health in the United States”, American Journal of Public Health
External links
- As codified in 29 U.S.C. chapter 15 of the United States Code from the LII
- As codified in 29 U.S.C. chapter 15 of the United States Code from the US House of Representatives
- Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (PDF/details) as amended in the GPO Statute Compilations collection
- The official OSHA web site
- The official NIOSH web site
- "The Job Safety Law of 1970: Its Passage Was Perilous' Official DOL website