The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act)

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) has undergone significant changes since its enactment in 1970. These changes have come about partly because the OSH Act has operated under numerous presidential administrations, each with a distinctive view about the direction of policy. In addition, resource availability, political pressure from both the private and public sectors, Congressional action, court decisions, and evaluation from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) have all led to legislative and administrative changes. As a result, OSHA has had a difficult time in balancing the mandate of its mission with competing interests.

The legislation that developed into the OSH Act built on the previous efforts of numerous groups. Occupational safety did not become a political issue until the 1960s. The issue evolved from the concerns of labor, unions, and environmental and consumer product safety advocates.

The rank-and-file labor movement of the 1960s focused mainly on general discontent over oppressive working conditions, as opposed to occupational safety and health. The 1960s witnessed an upsurge of strike activity by workers. Generally, workers became more militant and increasing conflict was experienced in relations between labor and management: "Opinion polls suggest that the conditions of work played an important role in these developments" (Noble, 1986, p. 70). Because the strikes during this era were generally spontaneous, workers f

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f government regulation (Noble, 1986, p. 115). Politically, the executive branch began to take important steps toward strengthening presidential review of federal agency rulemaking and programs. Starting with Richard Nixon in 1974, and continuing through 1983, each subsequent administration added to the previous administration's efforts to increase presidential oversight powers. Gerald Ford issued an Executive Order that required federal agencies to submit Inflation Impact Statements. Jimmy Carter mandated that federal agencies submit Economic Impact Statements. Ronald Reagan further mandated that the agencies prepare Regulatory Analyses. Additional agencies were created to administer these Executive Orders (Noble, 1986, pp. 148-150). Thus, numerous federal agencies found themselves compelled to justify the economic existence of their various programs, or face funding cutbacks. The agencies's dilemma was that estimates of costs and benefits on major programs like OSHA are difficult to conduct with any guaranteed degree of accuracy: "Thus, depending on their interests, values, and philosophical outlooks, different people come up with dramatically different assessments of risks" (Hilgartner, 1985, p. 27). The second phase

Category: Government - T