Occupational Safety & Health

V. Key Issues: Population Health >> E. Health Protection >> Occupational Safety & Health (last updated 9.1.17)

The Policy Problem

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 created both NIOSH and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA is in the U.S. Department of Labor and is responsible for developing and enforcing workplace safety and health regulations. NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Department of Health and Human Services.
Additionally, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977 delegated additional authority to NIOSH for coal mine health research.

Policy Options

Abolition of OSHA

Critics of OSHA observe that the historical patterns of fatal and non-fatal workplace accidents are the same before as after 1970 when OSHA was adopted. See Thomas J. Kniesner and John D. Leeth, Abolishing OSHA, Regulation 18, 1995: 46-56.

Resources

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
• Mine Safety and Health Administration
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Department of Health and Human Services. It is the federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. Information pertaining to the specific responsibilities of NIOSH are found in Section 22 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 CFR § 671).  The Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977 delegated additional authority to NIOSH for coal mine health research. It serves as a clearinghouse for OSH information, providing research, information, education, and training in the field of OSH; its website contains links to numerous resources.
• National Occupational Health and Safety Commission
• American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Center. This listserv provides free, electronic, international forum for  Occupational & Environmental Medicine (OEM), including news and discussion about OEM (media, scientific publications, regulations, legal cases), resources such as (grants, jobs, websites, conferences) and peer-review and consensus opportunities. An archive provides searchable access to all broadcast content from 1993.
• North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Center. Links to OEM resources.
• RAND Center for Health and Safety in the Workplace.
• American Society of Safety Engineers. Founded in 1911, ASSE is the oldest and largest professional safety organization. Its more than 32,000 members manage, supervise and consult on safety, health, and environmental issues in industry, insurance, government and education.

• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
• Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, University of Iowa. Hardin MD: Occupational Health & Safety Links.
  

Journals

• The American Journal of Industrial Medicine . Journal listed under “Life and Medical Sciences”. Full text available for subscribers only.
• International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
  Journal listed at “On-line Libraries” under “Environmental Sciences.” Full text available for subscribers only.
• Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Occupational Medicine

Analysis

• Pouliakas, Konstantinos and Theodossiou, Ioannis, The Economics of Health and Safety at Work: An Interdisciplinary Review of the Theory and Policy (February 2013). Journal of Economic Surveys, Vol. 27, Issue 1, pp. 167-208, 2013.
  

Data

• BLS. Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, 2009
• BLS. Workplace Injuries and Illnesses–2010
• BLS. Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Requiring Days Away From Work, 2014. An annual report typically released in the following November of the year featured.
• BLS. State Occupational Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities. State data presenting the number and frequency of work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatal injuries are available from two BLS programs: nonfatal cases of work-related injuries and illnesses that are recorded by employers under the Occupational safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) recordkeeping guidelines are available for 46 States and Territories from the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII); fatal cases of work-related injuries are available for all States, Territories, and New York City under a separate program, the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). This site provides state-level data starting in 1996 on the number and rate of both occupational injuries/illnesses and fatal injuries/illnesses.