The history of the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard is presented, with the implications for the role of government in regulation of job health and safety. The gaining of the Right-to-Know about chemical exposure was a significant achievement for labor, although it took fifteen years to gain a national standard. Labor and community group coalitions, divisions between chemical producers and chemical users, economic forces, third-party law-suits, and the difficulties in NIOSH/OSHA obtaining chemical identities were all important factors in gaining a standard. Chemical producers shifted from an ideology of “everything is safe” to “everything is dangerous,” and finally had to mount a campaign to get the Reagan administration to issue a national standard as a way to pre-empt state and local laws. The case illustrates the relatively greater power of industry, but that workers were able to gain increased control over their work through organizing.
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