Assignment Prompt & Instructions
See attached
**files (2)**
– ## DB1.docx
– ## UnitIStudyGuide.pdf
**## DB1.docx**
DB1
Part II: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards promulgation process is quite elaborate and provides a great deal of deliberation between OSHA and various stakeholder groups. Describe ways this might be helpful with respect to ensuring the final rule coming out of the process is the best it can be, and/or describe ways this deliberative process can have a negative impact.
Reply 1:
**Hudson Haas**
Top of Form
Good afternoon team and Professor Warner,
My name is Hudson Haas and I am from Seguin, Texas. I am currently employed as an EHS Specialist in a chemical manufacturing plant. I am married to my lovely wife and have a 21 month old daughter. Some of my future goals include earning my bachelor's degree, completing my CSP and CHMM certifications and continuing to serve as a beacon of reason.I look at OSHA a lot like I look at the federal government: there is representation from all across the land, there are varying opinions and getting anything done in a timely manner is the easiest over bet you can make. However, at the end of the day they are the standard that is set for most of America. As I have journeyed in my career, it seems that more companies are pushing above OSHA regulations where they can to set the precedence that they are
truly committed to safety. As long as OSHA is around to keep pushing the culture forward, we will continue to see less incidents.
Bottom of Form
Reply 2:
**Shawn Hunt** Top of Form
My name is Shawn, and I’m from Walterboro, SC. I currently work as a journeyman lineman, and I’ve been working in the electrical field for 26 years. Right now, I’m continuing my education in occupational safety and health. My goal is to move into a safety role, possibly with the current company I’m with now, where I can use both my field experience and what I’m learning in school to help keep workers safe on the job.
I feel the OSHA standards process can be helpful because it allows input from different groups like workers, employers, and safety experts. This helps make sure the rules are realistic and actually work in the real world. For example, workers can speak on what hazards they deal with every day, while employers can explain what is possible from a cost and operations side. This kind of back and forth can lead to better, more balanced rules that protect people without shutting down business operations.
On the other hand, the process can also be slow. Since there are so many steps and opinions involved, it can take a long time for new rules to be put in place. This can be a problem when workers are exposed to hazards that need to be addressed quickly. In some cases, delays in the process could mean people are not protected as soon as they should be.
This process is important because it helps create strong and fair safety standards, but the time it takes can sometimes be a downsideBottom of Form
**## UnitIStudyGuide.pdf**
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
3. Describe the regulation promulgation process.
3.1 Recognize how the regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
are promulgated.
4. Differentiate between laws and regulations.
4.1 Identify distinguishing aspects of laws and regulations.
4.2 Differentiate between the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act and OSHA standards.
Required Unit Resources
In order to access the following resources, click the links below.
Corcoran, D. (2020). The OSH Act of 1970. Manuscript in preparation.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2001). OSHA standards development. United States
Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). The OSHA rulemaking process [Flow chart]. United
States Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/OSHA_FlowChart.pdf
How laws are made and how to research them. (n.d.). USA.gov. https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made
Unit Lesson
Welcome! This course is essentially an introductory course to assist students in understanding how
environmental and occupational safety and health (OSH) laws and regulations are made and the roles and
responsibilities of various regulatory agencies at the state and federal level. This course covers both the
environmental and OSH regulatory environment because many individuals working in OSH, particularly in
small- to medium-sized organizations, are asked to wear the environmental hat as well. Thus, it is good to
understand the similarities and differences in the two regulatory systems.
UNIT I STUDY GUIDE
Occupational Safety and Health
Regulation Promulgation Process
[https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-122402865_1](https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-122402865_1)
[https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html](https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html)
[https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-160966164_1](https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-160966164_1)
[https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made](https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made)
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
The OSH Act
In the United States, laws enacted at the
federal level go through a process (see
Figure 1). The president can take other
actions, of course, such as vetoing the
bill or ignoring the bill, in which case one
of two things can happen: One, if
Congress is in session for 10 days
following receipt of the bill by the
president and he or she does not sign it,
the bill becomes a law. Alternatively, if
Congress is not in session, the bill does
not become a law. This is called a
pocket veto.
Each state government has a similar
process, but these processes vary
somewhat from state to state. The
governor of each state, however, is the
top executive officer of the state who
signs state-level bills into law.
The primary federal law covering
occupational safety and health in the United States is the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. This
act was signed into law by then-President Richard Nixon. The law has been updated several times over the
years. As indicated in your readings, the OSH Act was a pivotal document with respect to creating an
infrastructure for regulating occupational safety and health in the United States. Some of the more important
effects of the act include the following:
• enabled the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),
• provided a means for OSHA to create a set of regulations based on existing consensus standards,
• provided a process for promulgation of future standards,
• required employers to keep their worksites free from recognized hazards,
• outlined how OSHA would be administered and how regulations would be enforced,
• enabled the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission,
• enabled the creation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),
• provided states with a process and funding for running their own state-run OSH enforcement
agencies, and
• provided states with a process and funding for free, on-site consultation programs for small
employers.
Standards and Standards Promulgation
This list is not all-inclusive, but it does provide a good overview of the key tenets of the act. The first three
items on the list deal with the creation of OSHA and the dissemination of OSH regulations. In order to
establish the first set of enforceable regulations, the act allowed the Secretary of Labor to adopt standards
that already existed that had been published by various nonprofit organizations. As a result, much of the first
set of standards came from organizations like the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
(ACGIH). Many of those (40+-year-old) standards are still on the books today, and some have only recently
been updated.
Of course, the standards put in place 2 years after the passage of the act only served as a starting point.
Since that point in time, a number of occupational safety and health standards have been added to the books.
Some of the most well-known standards that have been added to the Code of Federal Regulations include the
Hazard Communication, Confined Space, and Lockout/Tagout standards. These standards were added
through a fairly convoluted process that involves participation from the public and industry (OSHA, 2001).
Figure 1: The legislative process
(How Laws Are Made, n.d.)
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 3
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Essentially, the process starts with a perceived need of some sort typically associated with a specific hazard
or set of hazards that need to be addressed. When OSHA recognizes such a need, it typically starts by asking
for input from the public, industry, and/or subject matter experts. Inquiries may be made to different groups as
well, such as industry leaders and associations.
This input may be obtained through the process of forming advisory committees and/or by publishing an
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in the Federal Register in which they typically outline the
problem, present available information, and may provide a rough outline of what they expect the proposed
standard might look like.
One of the main purposes behind the ANPRM is to solicit input and comments from the public and impacted
industries. They typically also consult established stakeholders such as the Office of Management and
Budget, small business groups, the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health
(NACOSH), and the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health. Expert groups are also
consulted, such as the NIOSH (OSHA, n.d.).
Information gathered from these stakeholder groups and from the public can then be reviewed by OSHA and
used to assist the agency by serving as a foundation for the publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making
(NPRM) in the Federal Register. Obviously at this point, OSHA tends to have more information and input from
industries on which to base a tentative regulation known as a proposed rule. The proposed rule provides a
detailed outline of what OSHA thinks the new regulation should look like based on their information, along
with a preamble to the proposed rule that includes input and comments from various individuals and groups
that have made a contribution along the way (OSHA, n.d.).
After all this, you would think that OSHA would be ready to promulgate their final rule but not so. Once the
proposed rule is published, the agency asks for additional input and typically holds hearings for impacted
stakeholders to provide input and present arguments and supporting evidence. Once again, this information is
gathered, entered into the docket, and considered. From these deliberations, OSHA drafts its final rule to
publish in the Federal Register.
The final rule is essentially the standard that is published as an OSHA standard or regulation in the Code of
Federal Regulations (OSHA, n.d.). There is typically an implementation period written to new standards that
allows the industry to phase in all of the new requirements over a period of months or even years. As you
should have ascertained at this point, the OSHA standard-setting process is quite elaborate and allows for a
great deal of public input and opportunities for deliberation. This is important in order to get employers within
a given industry to be willing to comply with standards. First, gaining input from the public and stakeholders
helps OSHA to identify what is feasible and what is not with respect to protecting employees. Indeed, OSHA
has been accused of going a bit overboard with some of its standards from time to time and getting input from
industry is helpful in keeping expectations realistic.
Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Thus far, we have discussed the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations without much
clarification on what those two publications are about. Basically, the Federal Register is a daily publication
that includes the written documents and activities of the federal government to keep the public informed. It
includes everything from notices of hearings, requests for information, notices of proposed rules, and final
rules issued by federal agencies.
The Code of Federal Regulations is a collection of final rules published by different agencies and the final
rules are published under a system that codes the various regulations according to the agency of jurisdiction
and the specific regulation codification system used by each governmental agency. OSHA is an agency that
falls under the U.S. Department of Labor. Its regulations can be found under Title 29 where labor standards
are found. OSHA standards are then broken down by numerical code indicating industry sector. All standards
falling under general industry are coded 1910. All standards falling under construction are coded 1926. After
that, standard numbers tend to focus on specific standard content. For instance, 29 CFR 1910.146 is the
general industry confined space standard.
Individual requirements in the standards are then separated with an outline-based numbering system starting
with a lowercase letter in parentheses, then a number, then small Roman numerals. For instance, 29 CFR
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 4
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
1910.1200(e)(1)(i) is a specific requirement in OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard that requires a list of
hazardous chemicals used in the facility.
As you can see, there were a lot of moving parts related to occupational safety and health that were put into
effect in the early 1970s as a result of the promulgation of the OSH Act. Several governmental bodies were
formed including OSHA and NIOSH along with a process for accepting the first set of safety and health
regulations and a process for promulgating new ones. Also, since the 1970s, there has been a marked
decrease in the number of workplace-related fatalities. We have seen other significant improvements to
workplace safety and health suggesting that the changes that were put into effect at the national level at that
time have resulted in some significant changes in helping to make the American workplace safe.
References
How laws are made and how to research them. (n.d.). USA.gov. https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). The OSHA rulemaking process [Flow chart].
https://www.osha.gov/OSHA_FlowChart.pdf
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2001). OSHA standards development. United States
Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html
– Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
– Required Unit Resources
– Unit Lesson
– The OSH Act
– Standards and Standards Promulgation
– Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
– References
**## UnitIStudyGuide.pdf**
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
3. Describe the regulation promulgation process.
3.1 Recognize how the regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
are promulgated.
4. Differentiate between laws and regulations.
4.1 Identify distinguishing aspects of laws and regulations.
4.2 Differentiate between the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act and OSHA standards.
Required Unit Resources
In order to access the following resources, click the links below.
Corcoran, D. (2020). The OSH Act of 1970. Manuscript in preparation.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2001). OSHA standards development. United States
Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). The OSHA rulemaking process [Flow chart]. United
States Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/OSHA_FlowChart.pdf
How laws are made and how to research them. (n.d.). USA.gov. https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made
Unit Lesson
Welcome! This course is essentially an introductory course to assist students in understanding how
environmental and occupational safety and health (OSH) laws and regulations are made and the roles and
responsibilities of various regulatory agencies at the state and federal level. This course covers both the
environmental and OSH regulatory environment because many individuals working in OSH, particularly in
small- to medium-sized organizations, are asked to wear the environmental hat as well. Thus, it is good to
understand the similarities and differences in the two regulatory systems.
UNIT I STUDY GUIDE
Occupational Safety and Health
Regulation Promulgation Process
[https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-122402865_1](https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-122402865_1)
[https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html](https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html)
[https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-160966164_1](https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-160966164_1)
[https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made](https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made)
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
The OSH Act
In the United States, laws enacted at the
federal level go through a process (see
Figure 1). The president can take other
actions, of course, such as vetoing the
bill or ignoring the bill, in which case one
of two things can happen: One, if
Congress is in session for 10 days
following receipt of the bill by the
president and he or she does not sign it,
the bill becomes a law. Alternatively, if
Congress is not in session, the bill does
not become a law. This is called a
pocket veto.
Each state government has a similar
process, but these processes vary
somewhat from state to state. The
governor of each state, however, is the
top executive officer of the state who
signs state-level bills into law.
The primary federal law covering
occupational safety and health in the United States is the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. This
act was signed into law by then-President Richard Nixon. The law has been updated several times over the
years. As indicated in your readings, the OSH Act was a pivotal document with respect to creating an
infrastructure for regulating occupational safety and health in the United States. Some of the more important
effects of the act include the following:
• enabled the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),
• provided a means for OSHA to create a set of regulations based on existing consensus standards,
• provided a process for promulgation of future standards,
• required employers to keep their worksites free from recognized hazards,
• outlined how OSHA would be administered and how regulations would be enforced,
• enabled the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission,
• enabled the creation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),
• provided states with a process and funding for running their own state-run OSH enforcement
agencies, and
• provided states with a process and funding for free, on-site consultation programs for small
employers.
Standards and Standards Promulgation
This list is not all-inclusive, but it does provide a good overview of the key tenets of the act. The first three
items on the list deal with the creation of OSHA and the dissemination of OSH regulations. In order to
establish the first set of enforceable regulations, the act allowed the Secretary of Labor to adopt standards
that already existed that had been published by various nonprofit organizations. As a result, much of the first
set of standards came from organizations like the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
(ACGIH). Many of those (40+-year-old) standards are still on the books today, and some have only recently
been updated.
Of course, the standards put in place 2 years after the passage of the act only served as a starting point.
Since that point in time, a number of occupational safety and health standards have been added to the books.
Some of the most well-known standards that have been added to the Code of Federal Regulations include the
Hazard Communication, Confined Space, and Lockout/Tagout standards. These standards were added
through a fairly convoluted process that involves participation from the public and industry (OSHA, 2001).
Figure 1: The legislative process
(How Laws Are Made, n.d.)
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 3
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Essentially, the process starts with a perceived need of some sort typically associated with a specific hazard
or set of hazards that need to be addressed. When OSHA recognizes such a need, it typically starts by asking
for input from the public, industry, and/or subject matter experts. Inquiries may be made to different groups as
well, such as industry leaders and associations.
This input may be obtained through the process of forming advisory committees and/or by publishing an
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in the Federal Register in which they typically outline the
problem, present available information, and may provide a rough outline of what they expect the proposed
standard might look like.
One of the main purposes behind the ANPRM is to solicit input and comments from the public and impacted
industries. They typically also consult established stakeholders such as the Office of Management and
Budget, small business groups, the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health
(NACOSH), and the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health. Expert groups are also
consulted, such as the NIOSH (OSHA, n.d.).
Information gathered from these stakeholder groups and from the public can then be reviewed by OSHA and
used to assist the agency by serving as a foundation for the publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making
(NPRM) in the Federal Register. Obviously at this point, OSHA tends to have more information and input from
industries on which to base a tentative regulation known as a proposed rule. The proposed rule provides a
detailed outline of what OSHA thinks the new regulation should look like based on their information, along
with a preamble to the proposed rule that includes input and comments from various individuals and groups
that have made a contribution along the way (OSHA, n.d.).
After all this, you would think that OSHA would be ready to promulgate their final rule but not so. Once the
proposed rule is published, the agency asks for additional input and typically holds hearings for impacted
stakeholders to provide input and present arguments and supporting evidence. Once again, this information is
gathered, entered into the docket, and considered. From these deliberations, OSHA drafts its final rule to
publish in the Federal Register.
The final rule is essentially the standard that is published as an OSHA standard or regulation in the Code of
Federal Regulations (OSHA, n.d.). There is typically an implementation period written to new standards that
allows the industry to phase in all of the new requirements over a period of months or even years. As you
should have ascertained at this point, the OSHA standard-setting process is quite elaborate and allows for a
great deal of public input and opportunities for deliberation. This is important in order to get employers within
a given industry to be willing to comply with standards. First, gaining input from the public and stakeholders
helps OSHA to identify what is feasible and what is not with respect to protecting employees. Indeed, OSHA
has been accused of going a bit overboard with some of its standards from time to time and getting input from
industry is helpful in keeping expectations realistic.
Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Thus far, we have discussed the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations without much
clarification on what those two publications are about. Basically, the Federal Register is a daily publication
that includes the written documents and activities of the federal government to keep the public informed. It
includes everything from notices of hearings, requests for information, notices of proposed rules, and final
rules issued by federal agencies.
The Code of Federal Regulations is a collection of final rules published by different agencies and the final
rules are published under a system that codes the various regulations according to the agency of jurisdiction
and the specific regulation codification system used by each governmental agency. OSHA is an agency that
falls under the U.S. Department of Labor. Its regulations can be found under Title 29 where labor standards
are found. OSHA standards are then broken down by numerical code indicating industry sector. All standards
falling under general industry are coded 1910. All standards falling under construction are coded 1926. After
that, standard numbers tend to focus on specific standard content. For instance, 29 CFR 1910.146 is the
general industry confined space standard.
Individual requirements in the standards are then separated with an outline-based numbering system starting
with a lowercase letter in parentheses, then a number, then small Roman numerals. For instance, 29 CFR
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 4
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
1910.1200(e)(1)(i) is a specific requirement in OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard that requires a list of
hazardous chemicals used in the facility.
As you can see, there were a lot of moving parts related to occupational safety and health that were put into
effect in the early 1970s as a result of the promulgation of the OSH Act. Several governmental bodies were
formed including OSHA and NIOSH along with a process for accepting the first set of safety and health
regulations and a process for promulgating new ones. Also, since the 1970s, there has been a marked
decrease in the number of workplace-related fatalities. We have seen other significant improvements to
workplace safety and health suggesting that the changes that were put into effect at the national level at that
time have resulted in some significant changes in helping to make the American workplace safe.
References
How laws are made and how to research them. (n.d.). USA.gov. https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). The OSHA rulemaking process [Flow chart].
https://www.osha.gov/OSHA_FlowChart.pdf
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2001). OSHA standards development. United States
Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html
– Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
– Required Unit Resources
– Unit Lesson
– The OSH Act
– Standards and Standards Promulgation
– Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
– References
**## DB1.docx**
DB1
Part II: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards promulgation process is quite elaborate and provides a great deal of deliberation between OSHA and various stakeholder groups. Describe ways this might be helpful with respect to ensuring the final rule coming out of the process is the best it can be, and/or describe ways this deliberative process can have a negative impact.
Reply 1:
**Hudson Haas**
Top of Form
Good afternoon team and Professor Warner,
My name is Hudson Haas and I am from Seguin, Texas. I am currently employed as an EHS Specialist in a chemical manufacturing plant. I am married to my lovely wife and have a 21 month old daughter. Some of my future goals include earning my bachelor's degree, completing my CSP and CHMM certifications and continuing to serve as a beacon of reason.I look at OSHA a lot like I look at the federal government: there is representation from all across the land, there are varying opinions and getting anything done in a timely manner is the easiest over bet you can make. However, at the end of the day they are the standard that is set for most of America. As I have journeyed in my career, it seems that more companies are pushing above OSHA regulations where they can to set the precedence that they are
truly committed to safety. As long as OSHA is around to keep pushing the culture forward, we will continue to see less incidents.
Bottom of Form
Reply 2:
**Shawn Hunt** Top of Form
My name is Shawn, and I’m from Walterboro, SC. I currently work as a journeyman lineman, and I’ve been working in the electrical field for 26 years. Right now, I’m continuing my education in occupational safety and health. My goal is to move into a safety role, possibly with the current company I’m with now, where I can use both my field experience and what I’m learning in school to help keep workers safe on the job.
I feel the OSHA standards process can be helpful because it allows input from different groups like workers, employers, and safety experts. This helps make sure the rules are realistic and actually work in the real world. For example, workers can speak on what hazards they deal with every day, while employers can explain what is possible from a cost and operations side. This kind of back and forth can lead to better, more balanced rules that protect people without shutting down business operations.
On the other hand, the process can also be slow. Since there are so many steps and opinions involved, it can take a long time for new rules to be put in place. This can be a problem when workers are exposed to hazards that need to be addressed quickly. In some cases, delays in the process could mean people are not protected as soon as they should be.
This process is important because it helps create strong and fair safety standards, but the time it takes can sometimes be a downsideBottom of Form
**## UnitIStudyGuide.pdf**
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
3. Describe the regulation promulgation process.
3.1 Recognize how the regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
are promulgated.
4. Differentiate between laws and regulations.
4.1 Identify distinguishing aspects of laws and regulations.
4.2 Differentiate between the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act and OSHA standards.
Required Unit Resources
In order to access the following resources, click the links below.
Corcoran, D. (2020). The OSH Act of 1970. Manuscript in preparation.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2001). OSHA standards development. United States
Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). The OSHA rulemaking process [Flow chart]. United
States Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/OSHA_FlowChart.pdf
How laws are made and how to research them. (n.d.). USA.gov. https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made
Unit Lesson
Welcome! This course is essentially an introductory course to assist students in understanding how
environmental and occupational safety and health (OSH) laws and regulations are made and the roles and
responsibilities of various regulatory agencies at the state and federal level. This course covers both the
environmental and OSH regulatory environment because many individuals working in OSH, particularly in
small- to medium-sized organizations, are asked to wear the environmental hat as well. Thus, it is good to
understand the similarities and differences in the two regulatory systems.
UNIT I STUDY GUIDE
Occupational Safety and Health
Regulation Promulgation Process
[https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-122402865_1](https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-122402865_1)
[https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html](https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html)
[https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-160966164_1](https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-160966164_1)
[https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made](https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made)
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
The OSH Act
In the United States, laws enacted at the
federal level go through a process (see
Figure 1). The president can take other
actions, of course, such as vetoing the
bill or ignoring the bill, in which case one
of two things can happen: One, if
Congress is in session for 10 days
following receipt of the bill by the
president and he or she does not sign it,
the bill becomes a law. Alternatively, if
Congress is not in session, the bill does
not become a law. This is called a
pocket veto.
Each state government has a similar
process, but these processes vary
somewhat from state to state. The
governor of each state, however, is the
top executive officer of the state who
signs state-level bills into law.
The primary federal law covering
occupational safety and health in the United States is the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. This
act was signed into law by then-President Richard Nixon. The law has been updated several times over the
years. As indicated in your readings, the OSH Act was a pivotal document with respect to creating an
infrastructure for regulating occupational safety and health in the United States. Some of the more important
effects of the act include the following:
• enabled the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),
• provided a means for OSHA to create a set of regulations based on existing consensus standards,
• provided a process for promulgation of future standards,
• required employers to keep their worksites free from recognized hazards,
• outlined how OSHA would be administered and how regulations would be enforced,
• enabled the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission,
• enabled the creation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),
• provided states with a process and funding for running their own state-run OSH enforcement
agencies, and
• provided states with a process and funding for free, on-site consultation programs for small
employers.
Standards and Standards Promulgation
This list is not all-inclusive, but it does provide a good overview of the key tenets of the act. The first three
items on the list deal with the creation of OSHA and the dissemination of OSH regulations. In order to
establish the first set of enforceable regulations, the act allowed the Secretary of Labor to adopt standards
that already existed that had been published by various nonprofit organizations. As a result, much of the first
set of standards came from organizations like the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
(ACGIH). Many of those (40+-year-old) standards are still on the books today, and some have only recently
been updated.
Of course, the standards put in place 2 years after the passage of the act only served as a starting point.
Since that point in time, a number of occupational safety and health standards have been added to the books.
Some of the most well-known standards that have been added to the Code of Federal Regulations include the
Hazard Communication, Confined Space, and Lockout/Tagout standards. These standards were added
through a fairly convoluted process that involves participation from the public and industry (OSHA, 2001).
Figure 1: The legislative process
(How Laws Are Made, n.d.)
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 3
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Essentially, the process starts with a perceived need of some sort typically associated with a specific hazard
or set of hazards that need to be addressed. When OSHA recognizes such a need, it typically starts by asking
for input from the public, industry, and/or subject matter experts. Inquiries may be made to different groups as
well, such as industry leaders and associations.
This input may be obtained through the process of forming advisory committees and/or by publishing an
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in the Federal Register in which they typically outline the
problem, present available information, and may provide a rough outline of what they expect the proposed
standard might look like.
One of the main purposes behind the ANPRM is to solicit input and comments from the public and impacted
industries. They typically also consult established stakeholders such as the Office of Management and
Budget, small business groups, the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health
(NACOSH), and the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health. Expert groups are also
consulted, such as the NIOSH (OSHA, n.d.).
Information gathered from these stakeholder groups and from the public can then be reviewed by OSHA and
used to assist the agency by serving as a foundation for the publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making
(NPRM) in the Federal Register. Obviously at this point, OSHA tends to have more information and input from
industries on which to base a tentative regulation known as a proposed rule. The proposed rule provides a
detailed outline of what OSHA thinks the new regulation should look like based on their information, along
with a preamble to the proposed rule that includes input and comments from various individuals and groups
that have made a contribution along the way (OSHA, n.d.).
After all this, you would think that OSHA would be ready to promulgate their final rule but not so. Once the
proposed rule is published, the agency asks for additional input and typically holds hearings for impacted
stakeholders to provide input and present arguments and supporting evidence. Once again, this information is
gathered, entered into the docket, and considered. From these deliberations, OSHA drafts its final rule to
publish in the Federal Register.
The final rule is essentially the standard that is published as an OSHA standard or regulation in the Code of
Federal Regulations (OSHA, n.d.). There is typically an implementation period written to new standards that
allows the industry to phase in all of the new requirements over a period of months or even years. As you
should have ascertained at this point, the OSHA standard-setting process is quite elaborate and allows for a
great deal of public input and opportunities for deliberation. This is important in order to get employers within
a given industry to be willing to comply with standards. First, gaining input from the public and stakeholders
helps OSHA to identify what is feasible and what is not with respect to protecting employees. Indeed, OSHA
has been accused of going a bit overboard with some of its standards from time to time and getting input from
industry is helpful in keeping expectations realistic.
Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Thus far, we have discussed the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations without much
clarification on what those two publications are about. Basically, the Federal Register is a daily publication
that includes the written documents and activities of the federal government to keep the public informed. It
includes everything from notices of hearings, requests for information, notices of proposed rules, and final
rules issued by federal agencies.
The Code of Federal Regulations is a collection of final rules published by different agencies and the final
rules are published under a system that codes the various regulations according to the agency of jurisdiction
and the specific regulation codification system used by each governmental agency. OSHA is an agency that
falls under the U.S. Department of Labor. Its regulations can be found under Title 29 where labor standards
are found. OSHA standards are then broken down by numerical code indicating industry sector. All standards
falling under general industry are coded 1910. All standards falling under construction are coded 1926. After
that, standard numbers tend to focus on specific standard content. For instance, 29 CFR 1910.146 is the
general industry confined space standard.
Individual requirements in the standards are then separated with an outline-based numbering system starting
with a lowercase letter in parentheses, then a number, then small Roman numerals. For instance, 29 CFR
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 4
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
1910.1200(e)(1)(i) is a specific requirement in OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard that requires a list of
hazardous chemicals used in the facility.
As you can see, there were a lot of moving parts related to occupational safety and health that were put into
effect in the early 1970s as a result of the promulgation of the OSH Act. Several governmental bodies were
formed including OSHA and NIOSH along with a process for accepting the first set of safety and health
regulations and a process for promulgating new ones. Also, since the 1970s, there has been a marked
decrease in the number of workplace-related fatalities. We have seen other significant improvements to
workplace safety and health suggesting that the changes that were put into effect at the national level at that
time have resulted in some significant changes in helping to make the American workplace safe.
References
How laws are made and how to research them. (n.d.). USA.gov. https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). The OSHA rulemaking process [Flow chart].
https://www.osha.gov/OSHA_FlowChart.pdf
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2001). OSHA standards development. United States
Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html
– Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
– Required Unit Resources
– Unit Lesson
– The OSH Act
– Standards and Standards Promulgation
– Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
– References
**## DB1.docx**
DB1
Part II: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards promulgation process is quite elaborate and provides a great deal of deliberation between OSHA and various stakeholder groups. Describe ways this might be helpful with respect to ensuring the final rule coming out of the process is the best it can be, and/or describe ways this deliberative process can have a negative impact.
Reply 1:
**Hudson Haas**
Top of Form
Good afternoon team and Professor Warner,
My name is Hudson Haas and I am from Seguin, Texas. I am currently employed as an EHS Specialist in a chemical manufacturing plant. I am married to my lovely wife and have a 21 month old daughter. Some of my future goals include earning my bachelor's degree, completing my CSP and CHMM certifications and continuing to serve as a beacon of reason.I look at OSHA a lot like I look at the federal government: there is representation from all across the land, there are varying opinions and getting anything done in a timely manner is the easiest over bet you can make. However, at the end of the day they are the standard that is set for most of America. As I have journeyed in my career, it seems that more companies are pushing above OSHA regulations where they can to set the precedence that they are
truly committed to safety. As long as OSHA is around to keep pushing the culture forward, we will continue to see less incidents.
Bottom of Form
Reply 2:
**Shawn Hunt** Top of Form
My name is Shawn, and I’m from Walterboro, SC. I currently work as a journeyman lineman, and I’ve been working in the electrical field for 26 years. Right now, I’m continuing my education in occupational safety and health. My goal is to move into a safety role, possibly with the current company I’m with now, where I can use both my field experience and what I’m learning in school to help keep workers safe on the job.
I feel the OSHA standards process can be helpful because it allows input from different groups like workers, employers, and safety experts. This helps make sure the rules are realistic and actually work in the real world. For example, workers can speak on what hazards they deal with every day, while employers can explain what is possible from a cost and operations side. This kind of back and forth can lead to better, more balanced rules that protect people without shutting down business operations.
On the other hand, the process can also be slow. Since there are so many steps and opinions involved, it can take a long time for new rules to be put in place. This can be a problem when workers are exposed to hazards that need to be addressed quickly. In some cases, delays in the process could mean people are not protected as soon as they should be.
This process is important because it helps create strong and fair safety standards, but the time it takes can sometimes be a downsideBottom of Form
**## UnitIStudyGuide.pdf**
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
3. Describe the regulation promulgation process.
3.1 Recognize how the regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
are promulgated.
4. Differentiate between laws and regulations.
4.1 Identify distinguishing aspects of laws and regulations.
4.2 Differentiate between the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act and OSHA standards.
Required Unit Resources
In order to access the following resources, click the links below.
Corcoran, D. (2020). The OSH Act of 1970. Manuscript in preparation.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2001). OSHA standards development. United States
Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). The OSHA rulemaking process [Flow chart]. United
States Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/OSHA_FlowChart.pdf
How laws are made and how to research them. (n.d.). USA.gov. https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made
Unit Lesson
Welcome! This course is essentially an introductory course to assist students in understanding how
environmental and occupational safety and health (OSH) laws and regulations are made and the roles and
responsibilities of various regulatory agencies at the state and federal level. This course covers both the
environmental and OSH regulatory environment because many individuals working in OSH, particularly in
small- to medium-sized organizations, are asked to wear the environmental hat as well. Thus, it is good to
understand the similarities and differences in the two regulatory systems.
UNIT I STUDY GUIDE
Occupational Safety and Health
Regulation Promulgation Process
[https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-122402865_1](https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-122402865_1)
[https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html](https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html)
[https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-160966164_1](https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-160966164_1)
[https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made](https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made)
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
The OSH Act
In the United States, laws enacted at the
federal level go through a process (see
Figure 1). The president can take other
actions, of course, such as vetoing the
bill or ignoring the bill, in which case one
of two things can happen: One, if
Congress is in session for 10 days
following receipt of the bill by the
president and he or she does not sign it,
the bill becomes a law. Alternatively, if
Congress is not in session, the bill does
not become a law. This is called a
pocket veto.
Each state government has a similar
process, but these processes vary
somewhat from state to state. The
governor of each state, however, is the
top executive officer of the state who
signs state-level bills into law.
The primary federal law covering
occupational safety and health in the United States is the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. This
act was signed into law by then-President Richard Nixon. The law has been updated several times over the
years. As indicated in your readings, the OSH Act was a pivotal document with respect to creating an
infrastructure for regulating occupational safety and health in the United States. Some of the more important
effects of the act include the following:
• enabled the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),
• provided a means for OSHA to create a set of regulations based on existing consensus standards,
• provided a process for promulgation of future standards,
• required employers to keep their worksites free from recognized hazards,
• outlined how OSHA would be administered and how regulations would be enforced,
• enabled the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission,
• enabled the creation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),
• provided states with a process and funding for running their own state-run OSH enforcement
agencies, and
• provided states with a process and funding for free, on-site consultation programs for small
employers.
Standards and Standards Promulgation
This list is not all-inclusive, but it does provide a good overview of the key tenets of the act. The first three
items on the list deal with the creation of OSHA and the dissemination of OSH regulations. In order to
establish the first set of enforceable regulations, the act allowed the Secretary of Labor to adopt standards
that already existed that had been published by various nonprofit organizations. As a result, much of the first
set of standards came from organizations like the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
(ACGIH). Many of those (40+-year-old) standards are still on the books today, and some have only recently
been updated.
Of course, the standards put in place 2 years after the passage of the act only served as a starting point.
Since that point in time, a number of occupational safety and health standards have been added to the books.
Some of the most well-known standards that have been added to the Code of Federal Regulations include the
Hazard Communication, Confined Space, and Lockout/Tagout standards. These standards were added
through a fairly convoluted process that involves participation from the public and industry (OSHA, 2001).
Figure 1: The legislative process
(How Laws Are Made, n.d.)
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 3
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Essentially, the process starts with a perceived need of some sort typically associated with a specific hazard
or set of hazards that need to be addressed. When OSHA recognizes such a need, it typically starts by asking
for input from the public, industry, and/or subject matter experts. Inquiries may be made to different groups as
well, such as industry leaders and associations.
This input may be obtained through the process of forming advisory committees and/or by publishing an
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in the Federal Register in which they typically outline the
problem, present available information, and may provide a rough outline of what they expect the proposed
standard might look like.
One of the main purposes behind the ANPRM is to solicit input and comments from the public and impacted
industries. They typically also consult established stakeholders such as the Office of Management and
Budget, small business groups, the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health
(NACOSH), and the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health. Expert groups are also
consulted, such as the NIOSH (OSHA, n.d.).
Information gathered from these stakeholder groups and from the public can then be reviewed by OSHA and
used to assist the agency by serving as a foundation for the publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making
(NPRM) in the Federal Register. Obviously at this point, OSHA tends to have more information and input from
industries on which to base a tentative regulation known as a proposed rule. The proposed rule provides a
detailed outline of what OSHA thinks the new regulation should look like based on their information, along
with a preamble to the proposed rule that includes input and comments from various individuals and groups
that have made a contribution along the way (OSHA, n.d.).
After all this, you would think that OSHA would be ready to promulgate their final rule but not so. Once the
proposed rule is published, the agency asks for additional input and typically holds hearings for impacted
stakeholders to provide input and present arguments and supporting evidence. Once again, this information is
gathered, entered into the docket, and considered. From these deliberations, OSHA drafts its final rule to
publish in the Federal Register.
The final rule is essentially the standard that is published as an OSHA standard or regulation in the Code of
Federal Regulations (OSHA, n.d.). There is typically an implementation period written to new standards that
allows the industry to phase in all of the new requirements over a period of months or even years. As you
should have ascertained at this point, the OSHA standard-setting process is quite elaborate and allows for a
great deal of public input and opportunities for deliberation. This is important in order to get employers within
a given industry to be willing to comply with standards. First, gaining input from the public and stakeholders
helps OSHA to identify what is feasible and what is not with respect to protecting employees. Indeed, OSHA
has been accused of going a bit overboard with some of its standards from time to time and getting input from
industry is helpful in keeping expectations realistic.
Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Thus far, we have discussed the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations without much
clarification on what those two publications are about. Basically, the Federal Register is a daily publication
that includes the written documents and activities of the federal government to keep the public informed. It
includes everything from notices of hearings, requests for information, notices of proposed rules, and final
rules issued by federal agencies.
The Code of Federal Regulations is a collection of final rules published by different agencies and the final
rules are published under a system that codes the various regulations according to the agency of jurisdiction
and the specific regulation codification system used by each governmental agency. OSHA is an agency that
falls under the U.S. Department of Labor. Its regulations can be found under Title 29 where labor standards
are found. OSHA standards are then broken down by numerical code indicating industry sector. All standards
falling under general industry are coded 1910. All standards falling under construction are coded 1926. After
that, standard numbers tend to focus on specific standard content. For instance, 29 CFR 1910.146 is the
general industry confined space standard.
Individual requirements in the standards are then separated with an outline-based numbering system starting
with a lowercase letter in parentheses, then a number, then small Roman numerals. For instance, 29 CFR
OSH 2302, Introduction to Regulatory Compliance 4
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
1910.1200(e)(1)(i) is a specific requirement in OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard that requires a list of
hazardous chemicals used in the facility.
As you can see, there were a lot of moving parts related to occupational safety and health that were put into
effect in the early 1970s as a result of the promulgation of the OSH Act. Several governmental bodies were
formed including OSHA and NIOSH along with a process for accepting the first set of safety and health
regulations and a process for promulgating new ones. Also, since the 1970s, there has been a marked
decrease in the number of workplace-related fatalities. We have seen other significant improvements to
workplace safety and health suggesting that the changes that were put into effect at the national level at that
time have resulted in some significant changes in helping to make the American workplace safe.
References
How laws are made and how to research them. (n.d.). USA.gov. https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). The OSHA rulemaking process [Flow chart].
https://www.osha.gov/OSHA_FlowChart.pdf
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2001). OSHA standards development. United States
Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/OCIS/stand_dev.html
– Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
– Required Unit Resources
– Unit Lesson
– The OSH Act
– Standards and Standards Promulgation
– Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
– References