Learn about the history and key milestones of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
1970
President Richard M. Nixon signs the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
The first standards are adopted to provide a baseline for occupational health and safety protection on American soil.
JANUARY 17 The OSHA Training Institute is created to train official OSHA inspectors as well as to educate the public.
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER The first states are approved—South Carolina, Montana and Oregon—to develop their own OSHA programs.
The free consultation program is created. More than 500,000 businesses have taken part in it over the past 30 years.
JANUARY 20 The Supreme Court decision setting staffing criteria for state programs requires them to be “at least as effective” as the federal OSHA.
APRIL 12 New Directions program (now known as the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program) to encourage the development of occupational safety and health training and education for employers and workers. (More than 1.3 million people trained since 1978.)
JUNE 23 The cotton dust standard was issued by the head of state to protect 600,000 workers against byssinosis. Cases of “lung burns” thus dropped to 0.1 cases per 10,000 workers.
NOVEMBER 14 Publication of a lead standard aimed at reducing the permissible exposure by 75% to protect 835,000 workers against damage to the nervous, urinary and reproductive systems. (Construction standard adopted in 1995.)
FEBRUARY 26 Supreme Court decision on Whirlpool affirming workers' right to engage in safety and health related activities.
MAY 23 The medical and exposure records standard was finalized to allow workers and OSHA to access the medical and toxic-substance exposure records maintained by the employer.
JULY 2 The Supreme Court decision strikes down OSHA's benzene standard, establishing the principle that OSHA standards must address and reduce “significant risks” to workers.
SEPTEMBER 12 Fire protection standard updated and rules established for firefighters responsible for extinguishing nearly 95% of worksite fires.
Update of the electrical standards to simplify compliance and adopt a performance-based approach.
Voluntary Protection Programs created to recognize workplaces with exceptional safety and health programs (more than 1,400 sites currently participating).
Hazard Communication standard issued to provide information, training and labeling of toxic materials to employers and employees in the manufacturing sector (other industries added on August 24, 1987).
The first “final approvals” granted to state plans (Virgin Islands, Hawaii and Alaska), giving them the authority to operate with minimal oversight from OSHA.
First-instance penalties proposed against the Union Carbide plant in Institute, West Virginia, for egregious violations involving respiratory protection and recordkeeping of injuries and illnesses.
Grain handling facilities standard adopted to protect 155,000 workers at nearly 24,000 grain elevators against the risks of fire and explosion from highly combustible grain dust.
JANUARY 26 “Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines,” voluntary guidelines for effective safety and health programs based on VPP experience, published.
MARCH 6 Hazardous waste operations and emergency response standard aimed at protecting 1.75 million public- and private-sector workers exposed to toxic waste from spills or hazardous waste sites.
SEPTEMBER 1 Lockout/tagout standard for hazardous energy sources published to protect 39 million workers against unexpected energization or startup of machines or equipment and to prevent 120 deaths and 50,000 injuries each year.
Publication of a standard on occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens to prevent more than 9,000 infections and 200 deaths per year, thereby protecting 5.6 million workers against AIDS, hepatitis B and other diseases.
OCTOBER 1 Education centers created to make OSHA training courses more widely accessible to employers, workers and the public. Twenty centers train more than 300,000 students each year – more than 370,000 students were trained in 2005 alone.
FEBRUARY 24 Adoption of the process safety management standard for highly hazardous chemicals aimed at reducing fire and explosion risks for 3 million workers at 25,000 workplaces, preventing more than 250 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries each year.
JANUARY 14 Adoption of the process safety management standard for highly hazardous chemicals aimed at reducing fire and explosion risks for 3 million workers at 25,000 workplaces, preventing more than 250 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries each year.
FEBRUARY 1 Maine 200 program created to promote the development of safety and health programs in companies with a high number of injuries and illnesses.
JUNE 27 First Expert Advisor software, GoCad, published to help employers comply with the OSHA cadmium standard.
AUGUST 9 The fall protection standard in construction was revised to save 79 lives and prevent 56,400 injuries each year.
AUGUST 10 Update of the asbestos standard to cut permissible exposures in half for nearly 4 million workers, preventing 42 cancer deaths each year.
Official launch of OSHA's expanded website to provide assistance on OSHA standards and compliance via the Internet.
JUNE 6 Phone and fax complaint handling policy adopted to speed up the resolution of complaints about dangerous or unhealthy working conditions.
AUGUST 30 Scaffolding standard published to protect 2.3 million construction workers and prevent 50 deaths and 4,500 injuries per year.
OSHA's Strategic Partnership Program was launched to improve workplace safety and health through voluntary national and local agreements.
Site-specific targeting program established to focus OSHA's resources where they are most needed at individual worksites with the highest injury and illness rates.
Ergonomics program standard issued to prevent 460,000 musculoskeletal disorders among more than 102 million workers at 6.1 million industrial workplaces.
JANUARY 10 New Jersey's public employees plan receives final approval.
JANUARY 17 Steel erection standard, developed together with industry groups and unions to prevent 30 deaths and 1,142 injuries per year and to save employers nearly $40 million per year. It is the first OSHA safety standard to be developed through the negotiated rulemaking process.
JANUARY 18 The recordkeeping rule was revised to improve the system that employers use to track and record occupational injuries and illnesses.
In accordance with the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, OSHA revised its bloodborne pathogens standard to clarify the requirement for employers to select safer needle devices.
MARCH 7-8 Under the Congressional Review Act, the Senate voted 56 to 44 to repeal the ergonomics rule. The House follows the next day and votes 223-206 to repeal the rule. It is the first time that Congress exercises its authority under the Act to repeal a federal standard.
MARCH 20 The President signs S.J. Resolution 6, repealing the ergonomics rule.
APRIL 27 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration celebrates its 30th anniversary; over the past three decades, the number of job-related deaths has been cut in half, and injuries and illnesses have declined by 40%.
SEPTEMBER 11 OSHA responds to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington DC. More than 1,000 OSHA employees from New York and across the country volunteer to help protect the workers involved in the cleanup and recovery efforts at both sites.
MARCH 1 The agency launches the biweekly electronic newsletter QuickTakes.
APRIL 4 Secretary Chao unveils a comprehensive plan designed to reduce ergonomic injuries through a combination of industry-specific guidelines, strict enforcement, outreach and assistance, and further research.
MAY 30 The recovery phase and cleanup of the World Trade Center disaster site come to an end. For more than eight months, three million work hours were logged on a worksite like no other, yet only 35 workers missed workdays due to injuries and no additional lives were lost on the job.
MARCH 11 OSHA announces an enhanced enforcement policy targeting employers who have received “high-gravity” citations.
MARCH 13 Ergonomics guidelines issued for the nursing home industry.
JULY 1 The final rule establishes the criteria for recording work-related hearing loss.
OCTOBER 24 OSHA welcomes the 1,000th site to achieve “Star” status in the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP).
FEBRUARY 4 OSHA unveils its National Emergency Management Plan, a new directive that clarifies the agency's policies during responses to national emergencies.
MAY 28 Ergonomics guidelines published for retail grocery stores.
AUGUST 24 The final rule establishes the procedures for handling whistleblower complaints under the Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002, also known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
SEPTEMBER 2 Ergonomics guidelines announced for the poultry processing industry.
NOVEMBER 24 Federal agencies must adopt the recordkeeping and reporting requirements for occupational safety and health that apply to private-sector workers.
MAY 12 Oregon becomes the 17th state to receive final approval to operate its own occupational safety and health program.
AUGUST 31 OSHA responds to Hurricane Katrina and offers all of the agency's resources to help protect the safety and health of the workers responding to the Gulf Coast disaster.
SEPTEMBER 22 OSHA reaches a settlement agreement with BP Products North America Inc. The company pays fines of more than $21 million following a fatal explosion at its Texas City, Texas plant. It is the largest penalty ever issued by OSHA.
FEBRUARY 27 OSHA publishes the final rule on hexavalent chromium, lowering the permissible exposure limit (PEL) from 52 to 5 micrograms per cubic centimeter, based on an 8-hour workday.
MARCH 15 The Senate confirms the President's nominee to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
NOVEMBER 14 The U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA unveils new guidance for protecting employees against avian influenza.
The U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA unveils new guidance on workplace preparedness for an influenza pandemic.
OSHA. n.d. “OSHA at 50”. https://www.osha.gov/osha50/
OSHA. n.d. “OSHA's 30th Anniversary”. https://www.osha.gov/aboutosha/30-years