You couldn’t ask a more polarizing question. OSHA chiefs admired by business for their restraint have left labor disappointed if not outraged. OSHA bosses who have enjoyed labor’s support have been the scourge of business.
George Guenther (1971-1973) came first. The one-time head of a hosiery business in Pennsylvania oversaw OSHA’s startup. Given the agency’s miniscule budget and vast mandate (covering five million workplaces), the launch was relatively smooth. But with the verbatim adoption and sometimes unreasonable enforcement of a body of voluntary consensus standards developed by industry associations, OSHA gained lasting notoriety as a “nit-picker.”