Occupational Safety and Health Act
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| Other short titles |
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| Long title | An Act to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women; by authorizing enforcement of the standards developed under the Act; by assisting and encouraging the States in their efforts to assure safe and healthful working conditions; by providing for research, information, education, and training in the field of occupational safety and health; and for other purposes. |
| Acronyms (colloquial) | OSHA |
| Nicknames | Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 |
| Enacted by | the 91st United States Congress |
| Effective | April 28, 1971 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 91-596 |
| Statutes at Large | 84 Stat. 1590 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 29 U.S.C.: Labor |
| U.S.C. sections created | 29 U.S.C. ch. 15 § 651 et seq. |
| Legislative history | |
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| Major amendments | |
| Safety Appliance Act | |
The Occupational Safety and Health Act is the primary federal law which governs occupational health and safety in the private sector and federal government in the United States. It was enacted by Congress in 1970 and was signed by President Richard Nixon on December 29, 1970. Its main goal is to ensure that employers provide employees with an environment free from recognized hazards, such as exposure to toxic chemicals, excessive noise levels, mechanical dangers, heat or cold stress, or unsanitary conditions. The Act created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
The Act can be found in the United States Code at title 29, chapter 15.
Efforts by the federal government to ensure workplace health and safety were minimal until the passage of OSHA. The American system of mass production encouraged the use of machinery, while the statutory regime did nothing to protect workplace safety. For most employers, it was cheaper to replace a dead or injured worker than it was to introduce safety measures.Tort law provided little recourse for relief for the survivors of dead workers or for injured employees. After the Civil War, some improvements were made through the establishment of state railroad and factory commissions, the adoption of new technology (such as the railway air brake), and more widespread availability of life insurance. But the overall impact of these improvements was minimal.
The first federal safety legislation was enacted in the Progressive period. In 1893, Congress passed the Safety Appliance Act, the first federal statute to require safety equipment in the workplace (the law applied only to railroad equipment, however). In 1910, in response to a series of highly publicized and deadly mine explosions and collapses, Congress established the United States Bureau of Mines to conduct research into mine safety (although the Bureau had no authority to regulate mine safety). Backed by trade unions, many states also enacted workers' compensation laws which discouraged employers from permitting unsafe workplaces. These laws, as well as the growing power of labor unions and public anger toward poor workplace safety, led to significant reductions in worker accidents for a time.
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