By Judson MacLaury
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 heralded a new era in
the history of public efforts to protect workers from harm on the job. This Act
established for the first time a nationwide, federal program 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.1 Hodgson's first step was to establish
within the Labor Department, effective April 28, 1971, a special agency, the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to administer the Act.
Building on the Bureau of Labor Standards as a nucleus, the new agency took on
the difficult task of creating from scratch a program that would meet the
legislative intent of the Act.
OSHA Administrations:
- George
Guenther Administration, 1971-1973: A closely watched start-up
- John Stender
Administration, 1973-1975: OSHA becomes an agency in crisis
- Dunlop/Corn
Administration, 1975-1977: Reform and professionalization
- Eula Bingham
Administration, 1977-1981: Of minnows, whales and "common sense"
- Thorne Auchter
Administration, 1981-1984: "Oh, what a (regulatory) relief"
Footnotes
Mr. MacLaury is U.S. Dept. of Labor Historian. He
wrote this history in 1984 at the request of Thorne Auchter, Assistant
Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
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