The X-Ray Vision-aries Blog

X-Ray Vision-aries is a healthy and green living blog designed for non-health nuts. We hope that by looking at health and the environment in a non-technical and light-hearted manner that makes learning about and improving one's health, environment and life accessible to everyone, we can all learn a thing or two. Enjoy!

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    • Occupational Safety and Health Administration

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created in 1970 by President Richard Nixon under the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. It is an agency under the United States Department of Labor and is tasked with preventing occupation related injuries, illnesses, and death by passing and enforcing workplace health and safety regulations. This administration covers the majority of private sector workplaces and allows state to create their own regulations to cover public sector employees as long as the regulations are equivalent in nature to that of OSHA. States are then provided with a portion of the costs that are required to execute these plans. The majority of state OSHA’s operate public and private safety plans for their workforce, but five governments, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and the US Virgin Islands, operate only public employee safety plans. Their private sector employment then falls under the jurisdiction of the federal OSHA.

    Following OSHA’s inception in the 1970′s, the organization was widely criticized for created confusing and cost prohibitive safety guidelines. Companies under their jurisdiction were required to retrofit their equipment, facilities, and buildings to comply with the new regulations. These measures were very expensive and many companies balked. Also, with inconsistent enforcement by OSHA officials, the organization soon earned a negative reputation. Since that time, OSHA has repealed the harsh and often confusing guidelines, and required companies to ensure only newly acquired equipment be OSHA compliant. During the following decades, OSHA began to focus heavily on workplace health hazards, like hazardous chemicals and toxic waste. They created the “hazard communication” rule, which gives employees the right to know about chemical exposures, as well as the “blood-borne pathogens” rule, which protects employees against illnesses like HIV or Hepatitis. Other notable accomplishments include the “guards on all moving parts” rule, which prevents employees from coming into unwanted contact with moving machine parts, and the “confined space” rule, which necessitates a buddy system for employees working in tanks, manholes, bins, pits and other enclosed spaces.

    Over the years, OSHA has steadily lost power and authority due to increased debates over the rising costs of regulation and enforcement. While most law makers do not dispute the benefits of reducing workplace health risks, the cost to implement the regulations deters them from granting OSHA more rights. However, the organization still maintains a mission to protect the health and safety of workers across the US, with as many workplace regulations as possible.