Authorizing Legislation: Occupational Safety and Health Act

F:\COMP\LABORIII\OSHA70
Sec. 20

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT OF 1970

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(d) The Secretary shall have access to records and reports kept
and filed by Federal agencies pursuant to subsections (a) (3) and
(5) of this section unless those records and reports are specifically
required by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of the
national defense or foreign policy, in which case the Secretary shall
have access to such information as will not jeopardize national defense or foreign policy.
(29 U.S.C. 668) Enacted December 29, 1970, P.L. 91–596, sec. 17, 84 Stat. 1609;
amended December 21, 1982, P.L. 97–375, title I, sec. 110(c), 96 Stat. 1821.
RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

SEC. 20. (a)(1) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, after consultation with the Secretary and with other appropriate Federal departments or agencies, shall conduct (directly or
by grants or contracts) research, experiments, and demonstrations
relating to occupational safety and health, including studies of psychological factors involved, and relating to innovative methods
techniques, and approaches for dealing with occupational safety
and health problems.
(2) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall from
time to time consult with the Secretary in order to develop specific
plans for such research, demonstrations, and experiments as are
necessary to produce criteria, including criteria identifying toxic
substances, enabling the Secretary to meet his responsibility for
the formulation of safety and health standards under this Act; and
the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, on the basis of
such research, demonstrations, and experiments and any other information available to him, shall develop and publish at least annually such criteria as will effectuate the purposes of this Act.
(3) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, on the
basis of such research, demonstrations, and experiments, and any
other information available to him, shall develop criteria dealing
with toxic materials and harmful physical agents and substances
which will describe exposure levels that are safe for various periods
of employment, including but not limited to the exposure levels at
which no employee will suffer impaired health or functional capacities or diminished life expectancy as a result of his work experience.
(4) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall also
conduct special research, experiments, and demonstrations relating
to occupational safety and health as are necessary to explore new
problems, including those created by new technology in occupational safety and health, which may require ameliorative action beyond that which is otherwise provided for in the operating provisions of this Act. The Secretary of Health, Education, and Wefare
shall also conduct research into the motivational and behavioral
factors relating to the field of occupational safety and health.
(5) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, in order
to comply with his responsibilities under paragraph (2) and in
order to develop needed information regarding potentially toxic
substances or harmful physical agents, may prescribe regulations
requiring employers to measure, record, and make reports on the
exposure of employees to substances or physical agents which the
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