Safety and health advocates worked for years to help pass the landmark Occupational Safety and Health Act, which took effect April 28, 1971.
Prior to that date, workers in the U.S. lacked many basic safety and health protections.
"Workplace safety has certainly improved over the past half century, and many employers are doing what is necessary to ensure the safety and health of their workforce," said James Frederick, deputy assistant secretary for OSHA.
However, Frederick said there is still much work to be done to guarantee the well-being of U.S. workers.
"There are still many workers who get hurt, sick or even die due to injuries that could have been prevented," he said. "This is why workplace safety and health is important, and this is why OSHA's mission is still important."
Specifically, Frederick said OSHA recognizes the importance of improving the process safety management (PSM) standard to protect employees.
"We are continuing the work the industry started after the incident that happened in western Texas," he said.
On April 17, 2013, an explosion at the West Fertilizer Company killed 15 people, injured at least 200 people and damaged 350 homes.
"We continue to coordinate with EPA to ensure alignment between OSHA's PSM standard and EPA's risk management protection standards," Frederick said, adding that the agency is currently "actively developing" a proposed rule to update the current OSHA PSM standard.
Because workplace injuries and illnesses have a severe impact on workers, their families and communities, Frederick said OSHA's goal is to help workers and employers eliminate and mitigate the hazards in their workplaces so every worker is able to go home safely at the end of each shift.
"We can best accomplish this by focusing our efforts where they can have the biggest impact," he said. "This includes high-hazard workplaces, reducing exposures to hazardous chemicals and addressing long-standing issues such as falls."
The next 50 years
As OSHA addresses the issues of today, it also has an eye on the future.
"While we may not know what tomorrow's hazards will look like, there are basic tenets of workplace safety that will always apply," Frederick explained.
According to Frederick, the most basic tenet is having the safety and health system in place to keep workers safe.
"Commitment to safety and health from top-level management and supervisors on jobsites is critical, as is the development and continuous improvement of safety and health management systems with real and meaningful worker involvement," he said. "We can't emphasize enough the importance of worker involvement in developing and implementing a safety and health plan for any workplace."
Another important tenet, Frederick said, is that every worker understands his or her rights, and that it is important to speak up about health and safety concerns in the workplace. Frederick also emphasized that every worker must be provided training in a language he or she understands.
"Too many workers are left out or forgotten due to their citizenship status because English isn't their first language or because of the color of their skin," Frederick said. "Too often, these workers are not aware of their rights or don't feel comfortable in raising safety or health concerns. These workers deserve to receive the same protections, and we have to do everything in our power to make sure that they get them."
OSHA's ultimate mandate, Frederick concluded, is "building a modern and inclusive workforce, that ensures workers have good, safe jobs and opportunities for advancement."
