Both OSHA and NIOSH serve very important roles in the United States. OSHA of course, promulgates and enforces safety standards, including exposure limits, PPE requirements, safety engineering standards, among many many others. It also does some outreach and those kinds of things. NIOSH conducts and oversees occupational safety and health research and develops criteria documents related to various hazards. I worked for OSHA for a good number of years and the only real interaction I ever had with NIOSH had to do with an exposure to butter flavorings at a popcorn plant in Missouri. Workers from that plant had come down with a very serious lung disease known as bronchiolitis obliterans and NIOSH was called in before OSHA had a chance to investigate. We basically let NIOSH conduct their investigation and they narrowed down the contaminant most likely to be causing the disease to di-acetyl. It was a very interesting interaction to be involved with but the disease is quite awful. Several individuals were placed on a list to receive lung transplants because of it. Home Page Module 3 Unfortunately, history has taught us that employers do not always act in the best interest for their employees. Therefore, safety and health in the workplace has virtually been guaranteed to meet some minimal standards through the enactment of legislation at both the federal and state level. In this module, we will learn about some of the agencies responsible for assuring occupational safety and health. This module is extremely important for health educators who will go on to work in a wide variety of businesses and industries, as you must know the agencies responsible for supervising safety and health in your workplace, and you must know training standards mandated by the various agencies. Please proceed to the “required readings” for this module. ObjectivesCompare and contrast the roles of various agencies responsible for occupational safety and health Reading and Background Materials Required Reading: Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA]. (2016). All About OSHA. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/Publications/all_about_OSHA.pdf Occupational Safety & Health Administration [OSHA]. (2017). State plans. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/osp/ (NOTE: This site describes OSHA-approved state plans and will tell you which states have been approved by OSHA to administer their own plan). Occupational Safety & Health Administration [OSHA]. (2017). Occupational safety & health administration laws & regulations. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/law-regs.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, March 28). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/about/default.html Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA]. (n.d). About OSHA. United States Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/aboutosha
