OSHA's 40-year impact

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Updated: May 3, 2011 10:12AM

Editor's note: 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. The act went into effect on April 28, 1971. The anniversary is now celebrated as Workers' Memorial Day by American labor unions.

In the 40 years since the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration was created, the agency has led the way to historic declines in workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses.

Today, OSHA continues to make a difference in the lives of all workers by ensuring that businesses provide safe and healthful conditions for their workers.

At the turn of the 20th century, death in American workplaces was all too common, working conditions were dreadful and few laws existed to protect workers. Through efforts by individual workers, unions, employers, government agencies and others, significant progress has been made in improving workplace conditions.

Since OSHA's inception in 1970, workplace fatalities have been cut by more than 65 percent and occupational injury and illness rates have declined 67 percent. At the same time, U.S. employment has almost doubled and now totals more than 107 million workers at 7.6 million worksites.

In 1970, on average, 38 American workers were killed on the job every day. That rate has now fallen to just more than 12 workers per day. That's an outstanding collective achievement. But there is clearly much work to be done to ensure that all workers can be productive and safe, while looking forward to a retirement free from disabling occupational disease and injury.

In just the past 12 months in the Chicago area, OSHA has investigated 20 worker deaths on the job; and there were 61 fatalities throughout Illinois in 2010. These were preventable situations that don't need to be repeated as long as employers and workers are committed to safety.

For the Chicago area, fall hazards and unsafe trenches are the top two causes of fatalities in construction and remain serious issues that our inspectors regularly identify in many investigations. These are hazards for which there have long been common-sense OSHA regulations in place. However, employers and employees still continue to ignore basic safety procedures.

These protections are designed to keep workers safe and earning a paycheck, while also allowing businesses to continue to operate without the tragic interruptions and high worker retraining, insurance and compensation costs that accompany workplace tragedies.

During the past four decades, America's workers across all industries have benefited from common-sense government standards and greater awareness of workplace safety practices brought about by OSHA. Workers in high-hazard industries, such as construction and manufacturing, have especially benefited from OSHA's efforts.

OSHA has had a positive impact in the lives of all Americans.

However, until every worker can return home safely, free from harm at the end of the day, we must celebrate cautiously and never lose sight of the fact that no job is a good job unless it's also a safe job.

Gary Anderson and Diane Turek are the OSHA directors for the Chicago area.

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