Final answer:
Safety rules are crucial for protecting individual and societal welfare by mitigating risks and preventing accidents. Rules like those mandated by OSHA ensure workplaces are safe, while laws such as seat belt requirements reduce overall societal costs from accidents.
Step-by-step explanation:
Safety rules are most useful because they help protect individuals and society from harm and ensure that common welfare is maintained. For instance, laws requiring the use of seat belts aim to reduce the number of serious injuries in accidents, thereby lessening the long-term financial burden on society. In an industrial setting, safety engineers emphasize the importance of following instructions to prevent a significant proportion of workplace accidents. To ensure safety, it is essential that workers are provided safety training in a language they understand, that employers keep accurate records of injuries/illnesses, and that required personal protective equipment is supplied at no cost to them.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) mandates health and safety regulations which employers must follow, such as providing fall protection and ensuring the safety of workers in confined spaces. The General Duty Clause of the OSH Act further requires that employers keep their workplaces free of serious recognized hazards. Regulations such as OSHA's serve as the foundation for workplace safety, upholding the principle that without rules to regulate behavior, chaos and harm would likely ensue, much as if there were no traffic laws to guide drivers on the roads.