OSHA And OSHRC In Transition, Part I: Early And Evolving Constitutional Challenges

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) emerged from the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to address widespread concerns about workplace safety. The statute reflects a deliberate structural choice: OSHA operates within the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) as an executive enforcement and rulemaking agency, while OSHRC functions as an independent, adjudicatory commission to ensure impartial review of OSHA citations. From inception, this bifurcated design raised separation-of-powers questions central to administrative law: how far the U.S. Congress may insulate adjudicators from presidential influence, the extent to which it may delegate policymaking discretion to the executive, and the constitutional limits governing agency adjudication and the right to a jury trial.