Commercial soundproofing
Commercial businesses sometimes use soundproofing technology. Restaurants, schools, and health care facilities use architectural acoustics to reduce noise for their customers. Office buildings may try to make cubicle spaces less noisy for workers using the phone. In the US, OSHA has requirements regulating the length of exposure of workers to certain levels of noise. The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. Congress established the agency under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which President Richard M. Nixon signed into law on December 29, 1970. OSHA's mission is to "assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance".[2] The agency is also charged with enforcing a variety of whistleblower statutes and regulations. OSHA is currently headed by Assistant Secretary of Labor Dr. David Michaels.OSHA officially formed on April 28, 1971, the date that the OSH Act became effective.[3] George Guenther was appointed as the agency's first director. OSHA has developed a number of training, compliance assistance, and health and safety recognition programs throughout its history. The OSHA Training Institute, which trains government and private sector health and safety personnel, began in 1972.[3] In 1978, the agency began a grantmaking pro ram, now called the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, to train workers and employers in reducing workplace hazards.[3] OSHA started the Voluntary Protection Programs in 1982, which allows employers to apply as "model workplaces" to achieve special designation if they meet certain requirements.[3] [edit]Health and safety standards The Occupational Safety and Health Act allows OSHA to issue workplace health and safety regulations. These regulations include limits on chemical exposure, employee access to information, requirements for the use of personal protective equipment, and requirements for safety procedures. In its first year of operation, OSHA was permitted to adopt regulations based on guidelines set by certain standards organizations, such as the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, without going through all of the requirements of a typical rulemaking. In 2000, OSHA issued an ergonomics standard. In March 2001,Congress voted to repeal the standard through the Congressional Review Act. The repeal, one of the first major pieces of legislation signed by President George W. Bush, is the only instance that Congress has successfully used the Congressional Review Act to block a regulation. Between 2001 and 2011, OSHA has issued just four new health and safety standards; during this period, the agency has promulgated regulations at a far slower rate than during any other decade in the agency's history.