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OSHA (pronounced 0-shuh) is shorthand for the Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. This is [url='http://www.ecologydictionary.org/OSHA_%280-shuh%29']a law designed to "protect the health and safety of industrial workers and also the operators of water supply systems and treatment plants. OSHA also refers to the federal and state agencies which administrator the OSHA regulations."
OSHA develops "guidelines and issues regulations for safety and health standards, and conducts inspections of workplaces for compliance with these standards. In instances of noncompliance, it issues citations and proposes penalties. In the 1980s and 90s, OSHA took a more active role in protecting against health hazards in the workplace, seeking to limit the exposure of workers to hazardous substances such as lead, asbestos, pesticides, and toxic chemicals and noise."
After all, even the U.S. Department of Labor admits that many workers are "unaware of chemicals that create potential hazards in their work environment, making them more vulnerable to exposure and injury."
The shift toward greener jobs is a start, of course, but as the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) explains, it's not that simple: "The infusion of significant federal resources into projects that will create thousands of new "Green Jobs" is a welcome development. The COSH organizations have long been active in "Blue-Green" alliance work but we are concerned that too little thought is going into the potential hazards of such jobs and too little attention is going towards the need for adequate safety and health training under these programs."
