Occupational Safety and Health Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Occupational Safety and Health perform - Essay ExampleThe concerns that had prompted passage of this landmark law were hardly unfamiliar or new ( comprise of telling Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970). Accidents in Americas factories and mines had ruined thousand of workers lives. Federal statistics compiled since 1911 had likewise documented a growing epidemic of work-related illness and diseases. The first federal statute passed by Congress that required safety equipment in the study was the Safety Appliance Act which was applied only to railroad track equipment. In 1910, the Congress established the federal Bureau of Mines to conduct research into the mine safety in response to a series of exaltedly-publicized and deadly mine explosions and collapses. The broadest early federal reform measures - legislation establishing the department of Labor in 1913 and banning exploitive child labor in 1938 - intentionally left closely regulatory power over industrial working c onditions with the states. The Esch Act of 1912 effectively outlawed the production of etiolate phosphorus matches, and the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act banned federal contract work done under tempestuous conditions. These laws, as well as the growing number of labor unions and public anger toward poor piece of work safety, led to the significant reductions in worker accidents for a time.State regulations of employment began as part of the imperfect tense response to the industrial revolution during the 19th century. Early in the twentieth century, the increasing labor vogue lobbied successfully for further regulation. Eventually, the federal government became involved in workplace safety during the Franklins Roosevelt presidency. (US History cyclopedia Occupational Safety and Health Act).Industrial production increased significantly in the United States during sphere War II, and industrial accidents soared. Winning the war alsok precedence over safety, and most labor un ions were more have-to doe with with maintaining wages in the face of severe inflation than with workplace health and safety. After the war ended, however, workplace accident rates remained high and began to rise. In the two years preceding OSHAs enactment, 14,000 workers died each year from workplace hazards, and another 2 million were disabled or harmed. Additionally, the chemical revolution introduced a vast cast 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. 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. body of work Conditions Before the Passage of the OSHAIn the mid - 1960s, growing awareness of the environmental impact of many chemicals, and the changes i n America industry, exposed the ineffectiveness of existing state and federal laws. In 1965, the Public Health benefit published an influential authorship that outlined some of the recently discovered technological dangers, including chemicals linked to cancer. The report called for a major national occupational health effort, criticizing existing federal law as too limited and state programs as uncoordinated and insufficient. The AFL-CIO and other labor organizations urged President Lyndon Johnson to support the reports recommendations.The Passage of