Regulating Work in a Capitalist Society (From Corporate Crime: Contemporary Debates, P 268-283, 1995, Frank Pearce and Laureen Snider, eds. - See NCJ-160666)

• NCJ Number: 160676
• Author(s): C Noble
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 16 pages
• Sale Source: University of Toronto Press
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This analysis of the history and record of the Occupational Health and Safety Act concludes that labor is too weak in the United States to allow legislation to work to its advantage.

Abstract

Five basic regulatory strategies have been dominant in the United States: (1) command and control, (2) cooperation, (3) worker participation, (4) markets and torts, and (5) criminal sanctions. The success of any and all of these strategies depends ultimately on political will and the power of workers, employers, and the government. Until 1970, workplace safety and health regulation in the United States was largely ineffective. The passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) in 1970 changed the system significantly. To date, OSHA as an agency has relied almost exclusively on the command and control strategy, setting standards and providing inspectors to police employers. However, neither the standards advisory committees nor criminal sanctions have been used extensively in either Republican or Democratic administrations. OSHA's overall impact on worker health and safety has been quite limited. Ultimately, the future of workplace reform probably rests on workers' ability to protect themselves through active exploitation of any rights to know and to pressure to strengthen those rights. Notes