History of OSHA - Part 4 - OSHA Evolves During the 1970s

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The late 1970s marked a significant period of transformation for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in terms of enforcement activities. As the agency evolved, it adopted stronger enforcement measures, imposed greater penalties for serious violations, and eliminated non-serious or minor violations.

One notable event that impacted OSHA’s enforcement approach was the Supreme Court decision in the Barlow case. The court ruled that employers could request search warrants from OSHA inspectors before granting them access to worksites. This decision originated from a 1977 federal case in Idaho, where Ferrol Barlow, a plumbing and heating contractor, refused to allow an OSHA inspector entry without a search warrant. Despite this legal setback, the agency continued to pursue strong enforcement, resulting in several major cases with record-setting fines and penalties.

In August 1977, OSHA conducted a six-month inspection of U.S. Steel’s SouthWorks facility in Chicago. The inspection led to 72 serious violations and 100 other violations, with proposed penalties of $125,900 – the largest in the agency’s history at the time. A year later, in March 1978, OSHA inspected the Texaco Port Arthur Refinery, which lasted over six months and resulted in 122 violations with proposed penalties of $228,700.

Another major case involved the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in August 1979. Following complaints, OSHA attempted to inspect the 470-acre Virginia-based shipyard that employed 22,000 workers but was denied entry despite having a search warrant. Eventually, a federal judge allowed the inspection to proceed. Twelve inspectors conducted a three-month investigation, resulting in 617 citations, including 54 willful and 473 serious violations, with a record-setting proposed penalty of more than $786,000.

By 1995, Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipbuilding had made significant improvements to its safety and health record, earning membership in OSHA’s prestigious Voluntary Protection Program. It was the only shipyard and the largest plant in the U.S. to be admitted into the program, according to the Virginian-Pilot newspaper.

OSHA began seeking criminal prosecution for willful violations that resulted in occupational fatalities in 1979. With tougher enforcement actions, the number of contested cases increased dramatically. The rate doubled from 6% to 12% in 1977 and further increased to 21% by 1979. This surge in contested cases led to a sharp workload increase for the agency. To reduce the burden of appeals, procedural changes were implemented that allowed OSHA Area Offices to negotiate settlements with employers before cases were brought to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

During the late 1970s, OSHA took several steps to bolster its enforcement program. These included providing more health hazard training to inspectors, recruiting industrial hygienists, and training college graduates with scientific degrees to become health inspectors. The agency also improved internal processes by developing new enforcement forms in 1978 and adopting the IBM Display Writer Word Processor with database functionality and enhanced reports for better data management practices in 1979.

An important emphasis during this period was ensuring employees’ safety and health rights were protected, including the right to file a complaint with OSHA. In 1977, a new rule required employers to compensate employees for participating in the OSHA inspection process. The agency also strongly supported employees’ “right to know.” The development of hazard communication rules began with proposals requiring chemical manufacturers to provide warning labels for hazardous materials and allowing employees the right to access their medical records.

OSHA officials found themselves expending significant resources dealing with complaints, which detracted from targeted inspection activities. This trend emerged as an unintended consequence of the 1975 kepone case in Hopewell, VA, which involved the misinterpretation of a complaint. To address this issue, the agency instituted a new policy in 1979 that required evaluation of complaints received and allowed local agency offices to adjust their response based on the severity of the hazard.

During this period, several other major events shaped OSHA’s enforcement landscape:

Willow Island, WV accident: In 1978, scaffolding collapsed at a power plant’s cooling tower construction site in Willow Island, West Virginia, resulting in the death of 51 employees. The incident raised questions about OSHA’s inspection efforts. However, an independent investigation by the National Bureau of Standards revealed that the agency had indeed warned the employer during an earlier inspection about problems with the scaffolding on the worksite.

Strengthening of federal employees’ safety and health programs: In 1978, due to rising occupational injury rates, the President’s Interagency Task Force recommended strengthening federal employees’ safety and health programs. Executive Order 12196 extended many of the protections provided by the OSH Act to federal employees.

Over 30,000 employees of the U.S. Congress are protected by OSHA standards under the Congressional Accountability Act, enacted in 1995. The CAA is administered and enforced by the Office of Compliance, an independent, nonpartisan agency.

“New Directions” training and education grants: A notable accomplishment of the late 1970s was the creation of the “New Directions” program. The initiative aimed to help grantees find solutions to safety and health issues and disseminate this knowledge by training employers and employees. OSHA garnered support from key Congress members and received funding for the grants, for which trade associations, unions, and educational institutions were eligible to apply.

During the 1970s. t’s evident that OSHA underwent significant changes in its enforcement approach. The agency faced numerous challenges, from landmark court decisions to increased workloads due to contested cases. Nevertheless, OSHA persevered and implemented critical improvements to its enforcement program, laying the groundwork for a safer and healthier workplace environment for millions of American workers.

Regulatory Reform Trends of the 1970s: Balancing Safety and Economics

In the late 1970s, the United States faced a unique set of economic and social challenges. Amid rising inflation and mounting concerns over the impact of federal regulations on businesses, President Jimmy Carter’s administration sought ways to strike a balance between maintaining workplace safety and reducing the economic burden on businesses.

Starting in 1977, regulatory reform measures were introduced, requiring agencies to publish semiannual lists of upcoming regulations and certify that each major rule adopted was the least economically burdensome approach possible. This shift in focus marked the beginning of a new era in regulatory reform that aimed to address the concerns of over-regulation while preserving the core mission of agencies like OSHA.

During this period, alternative methods of regulation were explored, including the adoption of economic incentives in lieu of safety standards. However, opposition from organized labor halted these measures, refocusing efforts on ways to supplement, rather than replace, existing safety rules. This shift led to the development of educational and information services, as well as limited use of incentives, to encourage workplace safety.

As the nation’s economic situation continued to worsen, regulatory reform efforts intensified, aimed at reducing the costs of compliance with federal rules. Legislative attempts to limit OSHA’s influence and authority peaked in 1980.

One notable instance of this push for reform occurred in 1979 when Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania proposed to exempt all employers with good safety records, regardless of their size or industry, from safety inspections. While these employers would still need to conform to OSHA regulations and be subject to health inspections, Schweiker believed that this approach would help focus enforcement on workplaces that needed it most, encouraging cooperation and voluntary compliance in the rest.

However, labor unions strongly objected to Schweiker’s proposal, arguing that it would dilute enforcement efforts and compromise workplace safety. Ultimately, his proposal was defeated in 1980.

The regulatory reform trends of the 1970s highlight the delicate balance between protecting workers’ safety and supporting economic growth. As OSHA and other federal agencies navigated these challenges, they worked to develop new approaches to regulation that acknowledged the importance of both safety and economic considerations.

This period of regulatory reform serves as an important reminder of the ongoing need to adapt and evolve our approach to workplace safety. By learning from the experiences of the past, we can continue to build a safer and more prosperous future for workers and businesses alike.

State Plans in OSHA’s Early Years: Embracing Decentralization

In 1971, when OSHA first began operations, the agency had a clear goal in mind: decentralizing federal programs to give states and local governments more control over safety and health regulations. By 1976, 24 of the 56 states and territories had established OSHA-approved programs, demonstrating progress towards this objective.

During this early period, several key milestones marked the development and evolution of State Plans:

November and December 1972: The first approved State Plans were those of South Carolina, Montana, and Oregon.
March 1977: OSHA published regulations that allowed State Plans to cover only public employees (state and local government). By 2008, four states and territories were operating State Plans covering just public employees.
October 1978: Connecticut became the first state to create a public employee-only State Plan, withdrawing its full plan and receiving approval to operate a plan exclusively for public sector employees.
A critical turning point occurred in January 1978 with the landmark staffing “benchmark” decision, AFL-CIO v. Marshall. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the OSH Act required states to provide sufficient compliance personnel for a “fully effective” program rather than merely a program “at least as effective as” the federal program, as a condition for final State Plan approval. In response to this court decision, OSHA established compliance staffing “benchmarks” in 1980 with support from the AFL-CIO.

As State Plans continued to develop, so too did the need for coordination and collaboration among the various state programs. In November 1979, after several years of informal meetings, the Occupational Safety and Health State Plan Association (OSHSPA) was formally established with the adoption of official bylaws. This organization allowed states and territories with approved OSHA plans to come together, share best practices, and work collaboratively on common goals.

Looking back on these early perspectives on State Plans, it is clear that OSHA’s commitment to decentralization played a significant role in shaping the agency’s approach to workplace safety and health regulations. By empowering states and local governments to take greater control over their own programs, OSHA helped to create a more flexible and responsive regulatory framework that could better address the unique needs and challenges of different regions across the country.

Health Standards and Key Issues: A Look Back

Asbestos: OSHA made its first move to address asbestos exposure on June 2, 1972, by establishing a standard that limited the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for employees to 2 fibers per cubic centimeter (cc). After considerable debate among stakeholders, OSHA revised the standard in 1983 with an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that lowered the PEL further to 0.5 fiber/cc. However, the courts vacated the ETS in 1984.

Cotton Dust: OSHA issued a cotton dust standard in June 1978, which generated substantial controversy and debate over the standard itself and OSHA’s rulemaking procedures. It’s worth noting that the federal government first regulated cotton dust under the Walsh-Healy Act in 1968, which applied to government contractors. The standard OSHA set in 1978 established specific PELs over an 8-hour period for various cotton industry processes, improving upon the previous standard.

Vinyl Chloride: In January 1974, the B.F. Goodrich Company disclosed that employees at its plant developed and died from cancer due to exposure to vinyl chloride. In response, OSHA issued an emergency standard for vinyl chloride in April 1974 and a permanent standard in October 1974.

Inorganic Arsenic: The hazardous, cancer-causing effects of arsenic were brought to light by the Dow Chemical Company and Allied Chemical. In January 1975, OSHA proposed a standard for arsenic that would cover 1.5 million employees. The permanent standard was announced in May 1978.

Lead: OSHA announced a new lead standard in November 1978 to protect an estimated 100,000 employees. To help lead smelting and battery manufacturing industries meet the engineering control requirements of the lead standard, OSHA established a Cooperative Assessment Program (CAP). The Permissible Exposure Level for lead dropped significantly, and many OSHA compliance officers received training in lead smelting operations at a large lead smelter in Louisiana.

Benzene: In April 1977, OSHA issued an emergency standard for benzene after reports linked the substance to leukemia. The agency included an information booklet and guidelines to supplement and explain the rule for the first time. The final benzene standard was issued in February 1978, but the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the standard, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision in 1980. OSHA ultimately promulgated a new standard in 1987 after a repetition.

DBCP: The manufacturing of DBCP (Dibromochloropropane) at an Occidental Petroleum Plant in California raised concerns about potential reproductive health issues for exposed employees. OSHA issued a proposed permanent standard for DBCP in November 1977 and a final standard in March 1978.

Acrylonitrile: OSHA established an emergency standard for acrylonitrile in January 1978 based on information from the Manufacturing Chemists Association and DuPont, which indicated that acrylonitrile had carcinogenic effects on exposed employees. The final standard went into effect in November 1978.

Carcinogens: In January 1974, OSHA issued a final rule for 14 carcinogenic substances in an effort to protect workers from the harmful effects of these chemicals.

Coke Oven Emissions: OSHA’s coke oven standard, issued in October 1976, was the first health standard to mandate detailed engineering controls.

Generic Cancer Policy: In January 1977, OSHA published a preliminary draft proposal for a generic cancer standard that defined several classes of cancer-causing substances, departing from the “one substance at a time” approach to rulemaking. This forward-thinking approach aimed to streamline the regulatory process and provide comprehensive protection for workers exposed to multiple carcinogens simultaneously. Although the generic cancer standard never became a finalized regulation, it marked a significant shift in OSHA’s thinking and approach to regulating occupational hazards.

Noise: In October 1974, OSHA proposed a new standard for noise exposure, retaining the PEL from the original “1091” consensus standard but requiring the use of engineering controls instead of personal protective equipment. The proposal faced opposition from both labor and industry groups, leading to the development of a “hearing conservation program” announced by OSHA in the 1980s. This program emphasized a combination of engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment to reduce noise exposure and prevent hearing loss among workers.

As OSHA continued to develop and refine its approach to health standards and key issues, the agency faced numerous challenges, including balancing the needs of workers and employers, addressing emerging health risks, and responding to scientific advancements. The history of OSHA’s health standards demonstrates the agency’s commitment to worker safety and health, even as it navigates the complexities of a rapidly changing work environment.

Over the years, OSHA has taken steps to improve its communication and training efforts, ensuring that both employers and employees understand the requirements and guidelines associated with various health standards. One example of this is the introduction of information booklets and guidelines that accompanied the benzene standard in 1977. By providing additional resources and explanations for rules, OSHA aimed to increase compliance and reduce confusion.

OSHA’s health standards and key issues have evolved over time to address emerging concerns and scientific advancements. By continuously reviewing and revising standards, the agency aims to provide the best possible protection for workers exposed to various occupational hazards. As we reflect on the history of OSHA’s health standards, it is clear that the agency has made significant strides in improving worker safety and health, despite the many challenges and complexities that come with regulating a diverse and ever-changing work environment.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8

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