Occupational Safety and Health Administration Quotes

[OSHA has] substantially overstated the risks of fires, explosions and other hazards…the costs of the rule greatly exceed the benefits.

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The Office of Management and Budget. The Miami Herald.

Our concern is that too many regulatory bodies are reacting to this need and that divergent or contradictory rules would be established which would in effect create chaos for the designers, builders and operators.

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Max Spencer, of the Continental Grain Company. Testimony. OSHA hearings.

Each grain handling facility is unique, and the state of the art is constantly changing. Further, historically very little scientific research has been done on some of the fundamental questions involved in grain dust explosions.

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Max Spencer, of the Continental Grain Company. Testimony. OSHA hearings.

OSHA at best has been a major disappointment, at worst an abysmal failure…To date there has been no solid evidence that OSHA has yielded any gains in safety or health.

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Richard L. Lesher, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. March, 1980.

Nobody has proven cotton dust is a source of disease….In forty years, we’ve not had one single employee…disabled because of a respiratory problem.

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William Pitts owner of the 80 year old Hermitage Mills, located in Camden South Carolina.

This fight is as old civilization: the unending war of a free people with inalienable rights granted by God, against those tyrannical power-hungry politicians intent on the establishment of a totalitarian government.

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William Pitts owner of the 80 year old Hermitage Mills, located in Camden South Carolina.

It is sickening to see the gutless minions of the news media siding with those few crybaby Americans who obviously are looking for a handout from the very hand that fed and clothed their families.

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William Pitts owner of the 80 year old Hermitage Mills, located in Camden South Carolina.

All of us pay for OSHA’s failures. We pay as consumers when the goods we buy cost more in the marketplace. We pay as taxpayers with more and more whittled from our paychecks to fund an agency that is heavy on expenses but lean on results.

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Chamber of Commerce staff report. 1979.

The imposition of large cost burdens on the private sector [rests] ultimately on the U.S. economy. [Additionally there are] many less visible secondary effects that cause substantial incremental costs…to society generally. [These include] losses in productivity of labor, equipment, and capital, delays in construction of new plants and equipment, misallocation of resources and lost opportunities.

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From the “The Cost of Government Regulation": a study for the Business Roundtable by Arthur Anderson & Co.

Vague statutory requirements and misguided management over the years have given OSHA one of the worst track records in the history of federal agencies. As a result of OSHA operations, the costs of doing business have increased substantially among affected industries. In addition, many employers, both business and farming, have complained of harassment, lack of adequate technical advice, and total disregard for local operations or the realities of doing business….For years, I have introduced and co-sponsored bills to eliminate small businesses from coverage of OSHA….I can think of few other issues which have so consistently irritated my constituents…I shall certainly continue my efforts to eliminate the costly and counterproductive practices of OSHA which lead to uncertainty, increased disillusionment with the federal government, and which show questionable benefits in terms of increased health and safety.

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Senator John Tower (R-TX) writes to A.L. Simmons, Safety Director, Whittacker Corporation.

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