Early in the August dog days, a very routine meeting of OSHA's national advisory committee offered up many of the reasons why it's been difficult for the agency to accomplish much of anything in the 1990s. It's certainly not for a lack of trying. "These people are gluttons for punishment," joked one OSHA official, commenting on the decision by the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health to hold two days of meetings in the dead of summer. "They're really the most dedicated group I've worked with."
Dedicated and frustrated. Committee members shook their heads over OSHA chief Charles Jeffress's report on the fiscal year 1999 budget battle. The House Appropriations Committee voted to provide $336.7 million in funds, the same amount that OSHA is working with in the current fiscal year. "This is a $9 million hit we'll have to eat," Jeffress estimated, taking into account the cost of salary increases and other expenses that must be adjusted for inflation.