Cotton Dust Regulation: An OSHA Success Story?

Abstract

In 1978, OSHA took a major step in attempting to promote the health of workers in the textile industry, tightening its standard on cotton dust levels in textile plants. Because the OSHA cotton dust standard was widely believed to be ineffective, it became the target of a major political debate and a fundamental U.S. Supreme Court decision. The evidence indicates that the standard has had the expected beneficial effect on worker health, and at a cost much lower than originally anticipated. Nevertheless, the costs still remain very high, far higher than estimates of the value of the results they achieve or of the value that workers place on them. Moreover, much more efficient ways of achieving comparable results are available. Nevertheless, large firms in the industry now appear to have a vested interest in maintaining the standard in its original form and are unlikely to constitute a force for change.