In 1971, OSHA was created mostly because companies and employees were not committed enough — or able — to take care of themselves or their workers without having a government agency tell them they had to and defining what that meant. Throughout its 40-plus-year history, OSHA has set minimum standards for safety and many inside the industry have looked at those as the maximum standard, still spending their energy trying to find a way around doing the right thing. Instead of striving to exceed the minimum standard they may focus on just barely meeting it.
A culture of safety can transform
