Occupational Safety And Health Act

With the arrival of giant machinery in the work space, so too arrived injuries. And with the arrival of new chemical technology came the arrival of chemical hazards. Eventually, the U.S. government, said "Huh, maybe we should do something about this, guys.”

The Occupational Safety And Health Act was enacted in 1970 as the first major occupational health and safety legislation in the U.S. The act was designed to provide employees with safe working environments, holding employers accountable for toxic chemical exposure, workplaces that are like the surface of the sun, really loud noises (gotta save those ears, man), and cooties (germies and grossness).

Rather than just being a bunch of mandates, the act created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Why in 1970? Enough industrial accidents happened, eventually leading the public to be fed up with the on-the-job injury stories, stemming from the increase in industrial production starting during WWII. The war was the focus, so crying over workplace injuries at that time was, well, not the time—but after the war in peacetime when workplace injuries increased, people started paying attention to workplace safety. Likewise, toxic chemical safety in the workplace crossed over with the environmental movement that had been going strong, starting in the mid-1960s.