ABSTRACT
Sound occupational health programs are the grease for the engines of commerce, not the fat to be trimmed in lean economic times. Since 1919 the International Labor Organization in Geneva, Switzerland has been writing down the steps for creating, designing, and implementing workplace safety and occupational health programming. Their country profile archives offer a wealth of information about how to promulgate and enforce the regulations promulgated. Many developing countries have great regulatory policies but emerging implementation is problematic, and developed high-end economies share this paradox despite research proving the importance of occupational health in the economic crisis. From the time of the asbestos crisis until the dawn of the crisis from Covid-19, sound safety and health programs have provided economic footing with clear rules of the game and compensating for market failures that jeopardize economic stability, thereby saving the life of marginal employers large and small when they are fragile. This chapter outlines key features of workplace safety and health laws and ties these provisions to results that save money and enable employers to endure economic changes, (sometimes catastrophic changes) while protecting human resources. This chapter discusses whether national regulations on occupational safety and health operating in complex mixes of economic development, variety of workplaces, and varying measures of injury and illness outcomes actually protect workers.
