Niosh Publication Critical Review

The roles of occupational safety and health (OSH) programs are to ensure that employers take responsibility for creating safe and healthy working conditions for their employees. In the United States, a federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) program has operated since 1970, but its primary focus has been employees who work in controlled or regulated work sites. The regulation of individuals working from home as remote employees (such as telecommuters) was a real issue, but it had not been defined in writing until November 1999, when a director of OSHA responded to a formal request from a Texas-based employer.OSHA's original response did not make news because it was an individual response to one company. However, the Washington Post discovered the correspondence, and ran a provocative story on 3 January 2000 based on the privacy implications of the recommendations. News media, as well as private and government groups, reacted with surprise and concern, calling for a retraction. Subsequently, OSHA withdrew the letter. On 25 February 2000, OSHA issued a formal policy statement declaring that home offices will not be inspected, effectively retracting all of its former intentions.AnalysisRemote work styles are a mainstream