Uploaded January 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
This clip, about the role of COSH groups and unions in improving occupational health and safety, is from Abby Ginzberg’s 1989 award-winning documentary. First established in 1972, COSH groups unite workers with labor, community, legal and health allies to win decent, just working conditions and build a powerful movement encompassing racial, economic, and environmental justice. When the OSH Act first became law in 1970, worker safety and health advocates realized that the new law and the new agency created to protect worker safety—OSHA—would only be effective if workers knew about their rights under the law and how to use them. These advocates began forming COSH Groups - Committees or Coalitions on Occupational Safety and Health - with the goal of providing workers with the information and skills they needed to protect their safety and health on the job. The first COSH was formed in Chicago in 1972, followed over the next several years by new organizations in Philadelphia (PhilaPOSH mentioned in the clip), New York City, North Carolina, Maine, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts. In 2003, a national organization was established, the National COSH, with its leadership and membership drawn from local COSH organizations. Now with through a network of 23 state and local non-profit COSH Groups, National COSH engages and impacts workers in communities across the country. National COSH convenes, builds capacity, and promotes collaboration of this diverse network to advance efforts to improve conditions in workplaces, across industries and in public policies. To find the COSH Group near you and learn more about the work of National COSH, go to their website, coshnetwork.org . Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for permission to post her wonderful film. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website socialactionmedia.com/.
This clip, about the role of COSH groups and unions in improving occupational health and safety, is from Abby Ginzberg’s 1989 award-winning documentary. First established in 1972, COSH groups unite workers with labor, community, legal and health allies to win decent, just working conditions and build a powerful movement encompassing racial, economic, and environmental justice. When the OSH Act first became law in 1970, worker safety and health advocates realized that the new law and the new agency created to protect worker safety—OSHA—would only be effective if workers knew about their rights under the law and how to use them. These advocates began forming COSH Groups - Committees or Coalitions on Occupational Safety and Health - with the goal of providing workers with the information and skills they needed to protect their safety and health on the job. The first COSH was formed in Chicago in 1972, followed over the next several years by new organizations in Philadelphia (PhilaPOSH mentioned in the clip), New York City, North Carolina, Maine, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts. In 2003, a national organization was established, the National COSH, with its leadership and membership drawn from local COSH organizations. Now with through a network of 23 state and local non-profit COSH Groups, National COSH engages and impacts workers in communities across the country. National COSH convenes, builds capacity, and promotes collaboration of this diverse network to advance efforts to improve conditions in workplaces, across industries and in public policies. To find the COSH Group near you and learn more about the work of National COSH, go to their website, coshnetwork.org . Thanks to filmmaker Abby Ginzberg for permission to post her wonderful film. To see more of her amazing work, visit the website socialactionmedia.com/.
