Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine February 2018

When Does Health And Safety Take Precedent The battle for and against licensing did not die with the Arkansas 2017 legislative session. It is now stronger than ever before. “ On November 7, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission’s Economic Liberty Task Force hosted a roundtable to examine empirical evidence on the effects of occupational licensure.” (1) The first line of their report said, “Nearly thirty percent of American jobs require a license today, up from less than five percent in the 1950s. For some professions, licensing is necessary to protect the public against legitimate health and safety concerns. But many more occupations could be practiced safely and effectively with fewer, or no, licensing requirements.” ( 2) Even this roundtable admits that health and safety risk can be of sufficient For some professions, licensing is necessary to protect the public against legitimate health and safety concerns. Economic Liberty Taskforce concern to merit licensing. Herein is the problem. How does one determine when the public health and safety is at such risk that the occupation merits licensing and even continuing education? It is subjectivity in search of objectivity which frequently gets slanted by the economic interests of those making the decision; i.e., an individual that

wants to do electrical or plumbing work without going through an apprenticeship program. That economic motivation can easily cloud an otherwise objective decision. Anyone having spent any time with code formulation and adoption can tell you that objectivity is an elusive commodity. So how is one to evaluate and quantify the potential risks to a consumer and find that line at which an occupation requires a license? So how is one to evaluate and quantify the potential risks to a consumer and find that line at which an occupation requires a license? There are many licenses in Arkansas. In fact, there are 179 occupations listed by the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services 2015 (3) and many have multiple licenses under the main category. For example, HVACR is listed as one but there are 7 licenses or registrant statuses (4) available but no person would be required to have more than the one that is applicable to their craft. Since there are so many required licenses in Arkansas, it would be easy to look at one or many and assume that it is an example of government over reach; however, I would not presume to sit in judgment of each occupation. I have no or little understanding of the complexities of their craft or the level to which they could create a health and safety problem for the public.

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