Word: osha
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...basic problem in this new danger is that the government's chief regulatory agency--the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)--does not have the manpower to inspect even a significant minority of the thousands of workplaces around the country. It oversees 2800 inspectors, only a small portion of all the workplaces covered by the Occupational Safety Administration Act. Even if the agency had the requisite resources, it would probably not even know what to look for. The electronics industry is only beginning to learn how to analyze hazards of the workplace--especially long-term threats to worker health. OSHA...
...perfect example of OSHA's inability to insure safe working conditions for high-tech workers is its inability to prevent firms from expanding the use of gallium arsenic "super chips"--the fumes from which killed John Zemotel. These chips are expected to enable computer companies to build machines that operate at speeds five times as great as the current generation of silicon-powered computers. The use of gallium arsenic, fatal in certain amounts, is thus expected to grow by 56 percent between...
...OSHA does not have the resources to monitor industries for levels of arsenic, nor to research the long-term effects of worker exposure to low levels of airborne arsenic. And it is incapable of even establishing new safety standards. Even if OSHA did feel, finally, that gallium arsenic technology should be taken off the market, it would not have the power to do so. OSHA can only prescribe safety standards--it cannot out-law certain types of technology. Thus, barring a public outcry against the technology, production of chips seems destined to follow the inexorable and fatal growth pattern...
...Fifty years ago a university was still the great great grandchild of the original university, the place people took refuge to do research and teach," says Heiskell. "Today the university has suddenly been tossed into the world and is set upon by the environmentalists, OSHA, issues of race and religion, etc. Everything that goes on in the world swirls right through the university. Fifty years ago you could get by with just a single president and a couple of advisers. Today you have to have more management in the university, you have to have more lawyers and businessmen...
Employers exploit illegal aliens who don't demand their rights because they fear deportation. Employers, therefore, get away with violations of laws ranging from the minimum wage to OSHA regulations in the workplace. A 1979 GAO study showed that overtime violations by business resulted in $11.2 million in underpayments. Savings of this magnitude make hiring illegal aliens worth the risk. Roybal's critics argue that, although such violations exist, they are impossible to prosecute. They point to a similar DOL attempt in 1977 which failed to lead to major reforms...