OSHA Asks You to Help Prioritize Action on Hazardous Chemicals
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was the dawn of public efforts to protect workers from harm on the job. The landmark Act established an unprecedented, nationwide, federal program that aimed then and still aims to protect almost the entire work force from job-related death, injury, and illness.
Secretary of Labor James Hodgson, who had helped shape the law, termed it "the most significant legislative achievement" for workers in a decade. Hodgson's first step was, effective April 28, 1971, to establish a special agency called the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA. The purpose of OSHA was to administer the Act.
Building on the Bureau of Labor Standards as a touch-stone, the new agency called OSHA took on creating programs that would meet the legislative intent of the Act.
OSHA straight-away established 400 Permissible Exposure Limits or PELs for hazardous chemicals. These limits were based on then-current national consensus or federal standards.
Great start, but that was 1973. Since then, OSHA has merely developed protective regulations for 29 additional chemicals, while the majority of OSHA PELs have remained unchanged.
An old 50's song
"Many of our permissible exposure limits are based on 1950s-era science that we now realize is inadequate to protect workers in 21st century workplaces," said David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA. "We must assure the protection of workers currently exposed to well-recognized chemical hazards for which we have an inadequate PEL or no PEL at all.
Michaels said, "I am hopeful that this forum will assist us in achieving that goal by helping us to identify those chemicals on which we should be focusing our efforts."
OSHA announced today that it will host a Web Forum to seek stakeholder input in identifying hazardous chemicals for which OSHA should develop exposure reduction strategies. As an initial step in the right direction, OSHA is looking for public input to help identify which chemicals of concern to focus initial efforts on, beyond those that OSHA is already addressing through ongoing rulemaking.
"We welcome you to nominate those chemicals for which the existing PEL is particularly inadequate or for which OSHA has no standard at all," said the Agency, "and [chemicals] that are putting workers at risk for occupational illness."
Chemical management and substances of concern
: name that tune
Workers exposed to chemicals suffer injuries and illnesses that can damage virtually all body parts and systems, including the lungs, skin, liver, kidneys, eyes, and mucous membranes. This boils down to not just social trauma but also money: The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that workers suffered more than 55,000 illnesses related to chemical exposures in 2007 and nearly 17,500 chemical-related injuries and illnesses resulted in workers spending days away from work. This is presumed to be under-estimated, as effects of chemical exposures are frequently not recognized until years after exposure. As a result, work-related disease often goes unreported since a worker or physician may not attribute the effect to an exposure that occurred on the job many years before.
The forum will allow stakeholders to identify harmful chemicals and explain why OSHA should focus on these chemicals in developing long- and short-term solutions for reducing workers' exposure.
Complete a nomination form at http://www.osha.gov/pelforum.html. Nominations were accepted from August 16 until August 27; possibly longer, so go to the page to check closing dates!
21st century OSHA
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. There has been some concern that enforcement is either too challenging or too lacking.
OSHA's role is to assure safe and healthful conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information on what OSHA is supposed to do, visit http://www.osha.gov.
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