Occupational Safety and Health

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Occupational Safety and Health
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Introduction

• OSHA has primary jurisdiction in area.
• Safety standards strength of ladders
• Health exposure to substances (asbestos)
• Vague legislative authority
• Complex area of policymaking
• Economic dimension
• to the extent feasible cost-effective??
• Most industries subject to OSHA regs.
• State governments can have primacy

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Early Era

• Prior to 1970, policy left to the states and
  courts (tort law)
• Not preventative
• Occupational disease was mostly ignored
• Three events spurred federal action.
• a mine disaster in WV
• the AFL-CIO made it a legislative priority
• Nixon presented his own legislation
• OSH Act passed in 1970

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Occupational Safety and Health Act

• OSH Act -- nationalized policy w/ OSHA as
  dominant agency
• to assure so far as possible every working man
  and women in the nation safe and healthy work
  conditions
• States could operate own programs if "at least
  as effective" as federal
• Change from compensation of injured to prevention
• Rulemaking process slow and controversial

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Implementation

• Inspection -- regulations are enforced by on-site
  inspections.
• Selection based on four reasons
• Targeted inspections
• Accident investigations
• Complaints
• Follow-up inspections.
• Initial efforts were highly criticized

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Violations

• Other-than-serious violations
• no direct relationship to job safety
• Nonserious violations
• direct relationship to safety unlikely to cause
  death or serious injury
• Serious violations
• probably lead to death or harm
• Willful violations
• aware of condition and no effort to eliminate
• Egregious Penalties

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Regulatory Areas Safety

• Safety Regulations -- first priority of OSHA.
• Address design of equipment/facilities
• OSHA could adopt consensus national safety and
  health standards w/out normal rulemaking
• After 5 months, OSHA adopted 4,400 standards.
• Private standards-setting organizations (e.g.
  National Fire Prevention Association), government
  safety stds
• Recently has moved to remove obsolete rules

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Regulatory Areas Health

• Health Regulations -- area was slow to develop
• Eliminate/minimize exposure to substances
• Scientific base needed to write rules weak
• Required showing causality
• rulemaking hearings were very adversarial.
• OSHA began to deal with health standards on a
  case-by-case basis
• In 1980, OSHAs cancer policy.

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Regulatory Areas Health

• Cancer Policy
• Category I -- conclusive evidence exists that a
  substance causes cancer. If in this category,
  then if a substitute existed it would be banned
  if no substitute, then exposure had to be reduced
  to the lowest feasible level.
• Category II -- tests show a suggestion of
  carcinogenity. Subject to less strict standards
  to be determined on a case-by-case basis.

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Changes and Evolution

• Reagan Admin. in 1981 led to implied
  consideration of costs in setting stds
• In 1988, OSHA proposed a rule to set exposure
  standards for 428 chemicals
• In 1992, appellate court struck down this generic
  standard for permissible exposure limits -- it
  was too vague.
• Smoking at work can split union support

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Impact of Reagan Admin.

• Mostly in the enforcement area.
• Changed the priority system for inspections.
  Exempted all industries w/ lost workday rate due
  to injuries less than the national average.
• Rely on voluntary industry cooperation. Increase
  in consulting visits.
• Level of enforcement was reduced.

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Current OSHA Leadership

• Clinton admin. had a more moderate approach
• Reinventing Govt shift toward a partnership
  relationship
• form partnership or be subject to traditional
  regs
• focus on common sense regulation (streamline and
  rationalize)
• common sense enforcement

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Evaluating Policies

• Enforcement
• few inspections
• trivial violations
• minor penalties
• Impact
• difficult to determine data is spotty

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Current OSHA Issues

• Repetitive Motion Injuries
• Costs and benefits -- difficult to do value of
  human life.
• Do we need government regulation?
• Risk-Based Wages -- higher risks jobs should pay
  more
• State Run Programs
• Small Business Impacts