The way the regulations help is that it sets the expectation that the next person will probably also say no, or that someone might try to fight you on it becaus

The way the regulations help is that it sets the expectation that the next person will probably also say no, or that someone might try to fight you on it because they have stronger ground to stand on. Child labor laws work because company owners know that eventually they'll get caught. OSHA works the same -- because they know there are penalties for it. Sure, sometimes companies get away with stuff, but there is always the chance that they won't.