Marcus M. Key

Marcus M. Key is a public health administrator and practitioner who served as the first director for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, signed by President Richard Nixon, gave new responsibilities to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), including the mandate to perform research on occupational safety and health problems, hazard evaluation, toxicity determinations, manpower development and training.[1]

Marcus M. Key
Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
In office
1971–1975
Preceded byposition established
Succeeded byJohn Finklea

The Act established in the establishment of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and Marcus M. Key was appointed as the new Institute's first director. Previously Key had been the Assistant Surgeon General and director of the Bureau of Occupational Safety and Health. At NIOSH, Key oversaw 475 employees and worked with an initial budget of $17.8 million.[1]

In 1974, B.F. Goodrich Chemical Company contacted NIOSH concerning deaths and illnesses in its Louisville factory. After a coordinated investigation, Key issued recommendations for exposure limits to vinyl chloride. His published recommendation suggested that vinyl chloride used in the factory resulted in four fatalities from angiosarcoma of liver.[2][3] By 1975, Dr. Key had resigned as director and was eventually replaced by John Finklea, who had overseen the Environmental Protection Agency's national laboratory in Durham, N.C.[4]

Key began teaching at the University of Texas School of Public Health. In 1985, he was contacted by Labor Secretary William E. Brock about heading the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). After considering the post, Key opted to continue with his professorship.[5][6]

In September 2013 Shell Oil Company partnered with the University of Texas School of Public Health to endow the Marcus M. Key, M.D.-Shell Occupational and Environmental Health Endowed Chair in honor of Key to provide funding to recruit and retain senior faculty in the school’s Occupational Medicine Program of the Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Health.[7]

References
  1. Seagle, Edgar F. (March 1972). "The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare". American Journal of Public Health. 62: 411–413. doi:10.2105/ajph.62.3.411. PMC 1530067. PMID 5011174.
  2. "Recommended Occupational Health Standard for Manufacture of Synthetic Polymer From Vinyl Chloride Archived 2008-09-21 at the Wayback Machine". National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. March, 1974. Retrieved on November 4, 2008.
  3. Brody, Jane E. (March 13, 1974). "Plastics Workers Screened for I11 Effects of Vinyl Chloride; Special to The New York Times WORKERS TESTED ON CHEMICAL ILLS". New York Times. p. 43.
  4. "The safety watchdog starts getting tough". Business Week (Industrial Edition). August 11, 1975. pp. 62D.
  5. Perl, Peter (August 29, 1985). "Inside: the Labor Department; U.S. Will Help States Obey Overtime Rule". The Washington Post. pp. A23.
  6. Cahan, Vicky (September 23, 1985). "Brock wins by losing on affirmative action but he's striking out so far at OSHA". Business Week. p. 49.
  7. Bower, Shon (September 9, 2013). "Shell partners with UT School of Public Health on Occupational and Environmental Health faculty chair". The University of Texas School of Public Health Communications.
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