April 1999
by Brendan Garrett
Created by Congress in 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA) was to "send every worker home whole and healthy every day." OSHA currently has a staff of 2,221 with 1,238 inspectors and an annual budget of $353 million. It works with 25 states that run their own OSHA programs with 2,786 members and over a billion dollars in annual budgets.
In 1933, there were 37 deaths on the job per 100,000 workers- in 1993, there were 8 on the job deaths per 100,000 workers. Not surprisingly, OSHA and the Department of Labor have taken the credit for the 57% drop in workplace fatalities (since 1973, the first year firms were required to report industrial accidents or disease).
Unfortunately, these statistics do not show the whole story. Since 1973, the year that the federal government required the reporting of statistics, the average time lost on the job because of illness or accident has not decreased substantially. Also, the amount of workplace injuries has not decreased substantially. There is no downward trend of time lost because of injury and accident. OSHA is the equivalent (and I am using a Cato illustration here) of a doctor who begins treating a patient 2 weeks after the worst of the patients illness is over. When the patient recovers, the doctor claims credit. Since 1933, the trend of workplace fatalities has had a significant downward spiral. In the years between 1933 and 1970, workplace fatalities decreased a massive 48%(37 to 18). And let me remind you- this is without government regulation.
In the years after OSHA, the downward trend was stable. It actually slowed down some- from 48% to 44%. Obviously, OSHA had nothing to do with the downward trend of workplace deaths. Now, why was this trend present? Employers had access to better safety equipment, the trend towards white collar rather than factory work had started, and a desire to improve conditions by employers themselves. Employers do not gain money when an employee is hurt- they loose. The time lost, medical payments, legal fees, and insurance increases are all reasons why employers do not want their people hurt.
The federal government had nothing to do with the decrease of workplace fatalities. What did? A very simple factor: greed. Employers are not charities- they do not give out money for the fun of it. When they give a paycheck, they give it because they had a service in return. An employer gains nothing from an injured employee, or even worse, a dead employee. Injuries and death not only drive up insurance rates, they drive away possible workers. The loss of a pool of skilled and trained workers can destroy a business. An employer gains everything from a healthy employee- and nothing from a dead or injured one.
The idea of enlightened self-interest is one that is positive for everyone. The employers look out for number 1- their company. The company is not helped by injured or dead employees; it is crippled. Enlightened self-interest, known by its common name, "greed", is the cause of less workplace fatalities. OSHA is not the solution to every problem facing employers and employees- capitalism and all its parts are the solution.
Brenden Garrett is Director of Economic Studies at the Center for American Freedom
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