OSHA and Health

I tend to eat lunch outside as much as possible, since I spend much of my day in front of my computer. However, since the weather is changing, I had to eat inside today.

I ate late, so no one else was in the lunch room, and I started looking at the posters on the wall. Most of them are required by the law to be posted and talk about workman's comp and minimum wage. There are also a few from OSHA.

Then I noticed this little gem:


Safety and Health

Really? Safety and health are the law?

I mean, I can understand the law requiring a safe environment.

But, how in the world is "health" part of the law? Healthy environment? Sure. But just plain old health?

For instance, what if the sign instead read thus:


Health: It's the Law

I do wonder what government officials were thinking when they signed off on this poster (which is at least in its second run by now). Or could it be that even OSHA, which is looking out for those pesky safety issues that could befall us, has overlooked the security of proper English?

May your communications be clear and accurate. And if you're going to pair two things with an "and" it may be wise to take away the first to see if it still makes sense.

~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor