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OSHA Standards to Regulate Risks
The three pivotal cases below [the Benzene Case (Industrial Union Dept., AFL-CIO v. American Petroleum Institute, 448 U.S. 607 (1980), the cotton dust case (American Textile Manufacturers Institute Inc. v. Donovan), and the case involving a generic standard to update the old “PEL”s (AFL-CIO v. OSHA)] all address the interpretation of 29 USCA § 655(b)(5) and the regulation of health risks. They all raise the continuing question of the assessment of the level of risk that is acceptable, as well as a range of issues regarding statutory interpretation.
Benzene is now widely recognized as a carcinogen. The Benzene Case was the first Supreme Court case addressing OSHA's authority to issue permanent health standards, and the plurality's reasoning continues to affect OSHA's approach to rule-making.
Cotton dust, like coal dust or silica, is well known to cause serious breathing problems. The case here involves a challenge to the cotton dust standard, issued by OSHA in 1980. The final standard (see 29 CFR 1910.1043) included exposure limits, monitoring requirements, medical surveillance for exposed workers, interventions of all types (engineering, administrative, and personal protection), and education and training of workers.
The Air Contaminants case squarely confronted the ability of OSHA to deal wiht the continuing problem of the interim standards' PELs.
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