Uploaded September 2017 | Updated September 2026, 20 hours ago
This video is clipped from Dr. Eula Bingham’s first press conference as President Carter’s new Assistant Secretary for OSHA on April 29, 1977. Dr. Bingham, an occupational health scientist from the University of Cincinnati, had been confirmed earlier in April. In addition to announcing action on a more protective benzene standard, she also announced her intention for OSHA to take action on many health hazards in workplaces. Benzene had been recognized as toxic substance capable of causing acute and chronic effects since 1900. In August 1976, NIOSH issued a recommendation that OSHA update its benzene standard because recent new studies had confirmed it to be a carcinogen, capable of causing leukemia in workers. The original OSHA standard established in 1971 was based on other health impacts. On May 3, 1977, President Carter’s new Assistant Secretary for OSHA, Eula Bingham, Ph.D, an occupational health scientist from the University of Cincinnati and an authority on occupational disease and on cancer-causing substances, issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for Occupational Exposure to Benzene. The ETS never took effect because of various legal stays won by industry. On May 27, 1977, OSHA published a proposed permanent standard to control occupational exposure to benzene. On February 10.1978, OSHA promulgated a more protective permanent standard for occupational exposure to benzene. The standard was challenged in Federal Court by the American Petroleum Institute and other industries and on July 2.1980, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the standard. The old benzene standard remained in effect until 1987 when an updated OSHA standard went into effect after petitions and lawsuits by labor unions and their allies. This clip is from a 30 minute video of this entire OSHA press conference on April 29, 1977 and available in the US National Archive in College Park, Maryland.
This video is clipped from Dr. Eula Bingham’s first press conference as President Carter’s new Assistant Secretary for OSHA on April 29, 1977. Dr. Bingham, an occupational health scientist from the University of Cincinnati, had been confirmed earlier in April. In addition to announcing action on a more protective benzene standard, she also announced her intention for OSHA to take action on many health hazards in workplaces. Benzene had been recognized as toxic substance capable of causing acute and chronic effects since 1900. In August 1976, NIOSH issued a recommendation that OSHA update its benzene standard because recent new studies had confirmed it to be a carcinogen, capable of causing leukemia in workers. The original OSHA standard established in 1971 was based on other health impacts. On May 3, 1977, President Carter’s new Assistant Secretary for OSHA, Eula Bingham, Ph.D, an occupational health scientist from the University of Cincinnati and an authority on occupational disease and on cancer-causing substances, issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for Occupational Exposure to Benzene. The ETS never took effect because of various legal stays won by industry. On May 27, 1977, OSHA published a proposed permanent standard to control occupational exposure to benzene. On February 10.1978, OSHA promulgated a more protective permanent standard for occupational exposure to benzene. The standard was challenged in Federal Court by the American Petroleum Institute and other industries and on July 2.1980, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the standard. The old benzene standard remained in effect until 1987 when an updated OSHA standard went into effect after petitions and lawsuits by labor unions and their allies. This clip is from a 30 minute video of this entire OSHA press conference on April 29, 1977 and available in the US National Archive in College Park, Maryland.
