01/3 - OSHA Lists Highlights of Three Decades; Meeting the Mandate: Saving Lives, Preventing Injury, Preserving Health

WASHINGTON,/U.S. Newswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation - At the beginning of its fourth decade, OSHA is meeting its mandate to see that workers go home whole and healthy. Since President Richard M. Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act on Dec. 29, 1970, work-related fatalities are down 50 percent and occupational injuries have declined by 40 percent.

"The OSH Act established that America's workplaces should be free of hazards that threaten the lives and health of workers," Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman said. "We have made significant progress towards that goal."

During the past 30 years, more than 700 work sites with topnotch safety and health programs have been recognized under the Voluntary Protection Programs, and the agency is currently participating in nearly 100 additional specialized partnerships to find and fix hazards covering almost 110,000 employees across the country. More than 2.1 million individuals have taken safety and health training through OSHA-sponsored programs while nearly 400,000 employers, mostly small businesses, have received free consultations to help them correct nearly 3 million hazards. Federal and state OSHA inspectors have visited more than 2.6 million worksites to help assure workplace safety and health.

"We're proud of the progress we've made in our first three decades, but all too aware that today more than 16 workers leave home each morning never to return," said Assistant Secretary of Labor Charles N. Jeffress. "Working with employers and employees, using enforcement, safety and health standards, partnerships and training programs, OSHA continues to promote the best possible protections for American workers."

Among OSHA's success stories, the cotton dust standard stands out as a clear win-for workers, employers and the U.S. economy. The number of workers with byssinosis or "brown lung" has fallen during the past 22 years from 12,000 to about 700 today as a result of reduced exposures mandated by the 1978 standard. At the same time, the actual capital costs of the standard were lower than OSHA predicted-$153 million instead of $550 million, and productivity in the textile industry grew more rapidly after the standard was promulgated than it had before.

Other highlights include standards on hazard communication, bloodborne pathogens and ergonomics, the agency's Voluntary Protection Program and strategic partnerships, free consultations for small employers, the site-specific inspection targeting program, the agency's phone-fax procedure to speed handling of complaints and the extensive educational materials available on OSHA's website.

OSHA 30-Year Milestones:

OSHA's mission is to send every worker home whole and healthy every day. Since the agency was created in 1971, workplace fatalities have been cut in half and occupational injury and illness rates have declined 40 percent. At the same time, U.S. employment has nearly doubled from 56 million workers at 3.5 million worksites to 105 million workers at nearly 6.9 million sites. The following milestones mark the agency's progress over the past 30 years in improving working environments for America's workforce.

Dec. 29, 1970: President Richard M. Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

May 29, 1971: First standards adopted to provide baseline for safety and health protection in American workplaces.

Jan. 17, 1972: OSHA Training Institute established to instruct OSHA inspectors and the public.

November-December, 1972: First states approved (South Carolina, Montana, Oregon) to run their own OSHA programs.

May 20, 1975: Free consultation program created-nearly 400,000 businesses participated in past 25 years.

June 23, 1978: Cotton dust standard promulgated to protect 600,000 workers from byssinosis; cases of "brown lung" have declined from 12,000 to 700 in last 22 years.

Jan. 20, 1978: Supreme Court decision setting staffing benchmarks for state plans to be "at least as effective" as federal OSHA.

April 12, 1978: Few Directions grants program created to foster development of occupational safety and health training and education for employers and workers. (Nearly one million trained over 22 years.)

Nov. 14, 1978: Lead standard published to reduce permissible exposures by three-quarters to protect 835,000 workers from damage to nervous, urinary and reproductive systems. (Construction standard adopted in 1995.)

Feb. 26, 1980: Supreme Court decision on Whirlpool affirming workers' rights to engage in safety and health-related activities.

May 23, 1980: Medical and exposure records standard finalized to permit worker and OSHA access to employer-maintained medical and toxic exposure records.

July 2, 1980: Supreme Court decision vacates OSHA's benzene standard, establishing the principle that OSHA standards must address and reduce "significant risks" to workers.

Sept. 12,1980: Fire protection standard updated and rules established for fire brigades responsible for putting out nearly 95 percent of worksite fires.

Jan. 16, 1981: Electrical standards updated to simplify compliance and adopt a performance approach.

July 2, 1982: Voluntary Protection Programs created to recognize worksites with outstanding safety and health programs (Nearly 700 sites currently participating)

Nov. 25, 1983: Hazard communication standard promulgated to provide information and training and labeling of toxic materials for manufacturing employers and employees (Other industries added August 24, 1987).

November-December, 1984: First "final approvals" granted to state plans (Virgin Islands, Hawaii and Alaska) giving them authority to operate with minimal oversight from OSHA.

April 1, 1986: First instance-by instance penalties proposed against Union Carbide's plant in Institute, West Virginia, for egregious violations involving respiratory protection and injury and illness record keeping.

December 31, 1987: Grain handling facilities standard adopted to protect 155,000 workers at nearly 24,000 grain elevators from the risk of fire and explosion from highly combustible grain dust.

Jan. 26, 1989: "Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines," voluntary guidelines for effective safety and health programs based on VPP experience, published.

March 6, 1989: Hazardous waste operations and emergency response standard promulgated to protect 1.75 million public and private sector workers exposed to toxic wastes from spills or at hazardous waste sites.

Sept. 1,1989: Lockout/tagout of hazardous energy sources standard issued to protect 39 million workers from unexpected energization or start up of machines or equipment and prevent 120 deaths and 50,000 injuries each year.

Dec. 6, 1991: Occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens standard published to prevent more than 9,000 infections and 200 deaths per year, protecting 5.6 million workers against AIDS, hepatitis B and other diseases.

Oct. 1, 1992: Education Centers created to make OSHA training courses more widely available to employers, workers and the public. (12 centers have trained more than 50,000 workers and employers to date.)

Feb. 24, 1992: Process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals standard adopted to reduce fire and explosion risks for 3 million workers at 25,000 workplaces, preventing more than 250 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries each year.

Jan. 14,1993: Permit-required confined spaces standard promulgated to prevent more than 50 deaths and more than 5,000 serious injuries annually for 1.6 million workers who enter confined spaces at 240,000 workplaces each year.

Feb. 1, 1993: Maine 200 program created to promote development of safety and health programs at companies with high numbers of injuries and illnesses.

June 27, 1994: First expert advisor software-GoCad-issued to assist employers in complying with OSHA's cadmium standard.

Aug. 9, 1994: Fall protection in construction standard revised to save 79 lives and prevent 56,400 injuries each year.

Aug. 10, 1994: Asbestos standard updated to cut permissible exposures in half fro nearly 4 million workers, preventing 42 cancer deaths annually.

Sept. 4, 1995: Formal launch of OSHA's expanded webpage to provide OSHA standards and compliance assistance via the Internet.

June 6, 1996: Phone-fax complaint handling policy adopted to speed resolution of complaints of unsafe or unhealthful working conditions.

Aug. 30, 1996: Scaffold standard published to protect 2.3 million construction workers and prevent 50 deaths and 4,500 injuries annually.

Nov. 9, 1998: OSHA Strategic Partnership Program launched to improve workplace safety and health through national and local cooperative, voluntary agreements.

April 19, 1999: Site-Specific Targeting Program established to focus OSHA resources where most needed -- on individual worksites with the highest injury and illness rates.

Nov. 14, 2000: Ergonomics program standard promulgated to prevent 460, 000 musculoskeletal disorders among more than 102 million workers at 6.1 million general industry worksites.