Worker Participation in Job Safety and Health

Abstract

2 *Tmag ORKER involvement is a key ingredient toward the S establishment of job safety and health standards. It is g W~ l V T also key to enforcement of those standards by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Passage of P c) the 1969 Coal Mine Health and Safety Act (MSHA) (1) and the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) (2) came on the heels of the movement for civil rights, environmentalprotection, communityhealth advocacy and equal rights forwomen. People active in these movements voiced a strong skepticism of the willingness of government agencies to fulfill the legal mandates as legislation became law. They demanded an active role in the implementation of these government programs. The drive during the 1960s by organized labor and others for passage of a federal job safety and health program was affected by these demands. The OSHA and MSHA laws contain clear language which mandates maximum participation by workers and their representatives in the standard setting process, including the standards development process assigned to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the inspection and enforcement system, and the appeals procedures for all aspects of OSHA and MSHA. The OSHA law was a radical departure from the individual state job safety and health laws in existence for as long as fifty years. Workers and unions had few rights under state laws. It was this implicit failure which precipitated the need for federal legislation.