Sadly, this agency which was once seen as a panacea for all forms of safety problems has mutated into one of the most feared and reviled of all government bureaucracy. To small business owners, only the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency are considered more onerous in the burden they impose. To many who come under its purview, OSHA seems to operate under the assumption that businesses have no incentive for maintaining safe workplaces beyond government intervention. Employers are afraid to call OSHA for advice on how to comply with its regulations because a visit from an OSHA inspector could mean sudden and substantial fines for violations of regulations that no one knew about . . . Many experts feel that this betrays an attitude of confrontation rather than cooperation on the agency's part.
Experts further contend that the private sector has every incentive for maintaining safety.
Business owners like to tell OSHA horror stories. For instance, there's the one about a requirement for stringent warning labels on dangerous chemicals like sodium chloride, also known as ordinary table salt. And the complicated waste disposal procedures mandated for that terribly dangerous substance, candle wax. There are the requirements that roofers post signs saying respirators are necessary even when they are not, and the requirements of training workers against the hazards of exposure to substances like chalk, lumber, and dishwashing detergent. The Clinton administration, despite having strong ideas for regulatory reform, links OSHA with a reduction of deaths in the workplace.