One of the main duties of government is to protect the general welfare of its citizens. In the United States, the federal goverenment distributes this responsibility among many different departments and agencies. Some groups monitor and try to prevent the spread of diseases, while others regulate workplace safety, product safety, or food and drug quality. Let’s take a closer look at some of these agencies.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Food and Drug Administration
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, was founded in 1946 in an attempt to combat a malaria outbreak following World War II. Over the last seven decades, the CDC has assumed several different names and served slightly different purposes, but its primary goal has always been to investigate and contain diseases that could be a threat to the American population. Reporting to the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC has been responsible for investigating and containing infectious diseases, such as e. Coli, West Nile Virus, various strains of influenza, and--quite recently--Ebola that threatened to spread around the globe. The CDC also plays a role in defense, conducting research designed to protect Americans from bioterrorism--the use of pathogens to sicken the U.S. population.
Officially formed in 1971 during the Nixon administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, tries to ensure that employers protect workers from undue and preventable harm that might occur while on the job. In cooperation with state-level occupational safety agencies, OSHA establishes guidelines of acceptable workplace practices for various employment fields and then randomly inspects and investigates cases of OSHA regulation violations. Employers can be heavily fined or even closed down if OSHA violations are found and not addressed quickly enough. OSHA’s system of regulations and requirements have been considered at times complex and hard to enforce, but studies have shown measurable reductions in workplace accidents, injuries, and deaths.
Another Nixon era initiative, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, was created in 1972 to help protect Americans from unsafe or dangerous products on the market. The CPSC functions as an independent agency, so it does not report to any specific department and only loosely reports to the president. It issues regulations for product design and marketing for thousands of products from child safety seats to high-definition televisions and is best known for issuing product recalls. There are some products that the CPSC does not regulate, such as automobiles, weapons, and drugs. These are all monitored by other product-specific agencies.
Tracing its roots back to the late 1800s and the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Chemistry, the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has a long history that is closely connected to the administrations of Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt. The influence of journalists in the 1900s to improve food safety and stop food-borne illnesses helped shape the agency as it is today. The FDA reports to the Department of Health and Human Services. Through its various offices and lower agencies, the FDA regulates drugs--both prescription and over-the-counter medicines--and establishes guidelines for how foods are packaged, how production centers operate, and how nutritional values are calculated and labeled.
Can you match the agency to its purpose? Connect each statement to the name of the agency it describes.
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This agency establishes rules and policies to protect workers from accidents on the job.
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Food and Drug Administration
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This agency investigates and protects the American populace from communicable diseases.
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Food and Drug Administration
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This agency regulates and inspects medications to protect the public.
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Food and Drug Administration
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This agency works to protect citizens from items that they purchase that might be dangerous.
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Food and Drug Administration
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Complete
