I saw the following article published in today's (Mobile) Press Register by Sean Reilly, Washington Bureau.
This article notes the rate of deaths on job sites all over the country and what the latest push is for OSHA to do more inspections and do more strict adherence to the Regulations.
Of course, there can always be very "hard nose" inspections and penalties issued that would literally shut down a large number of companies performing construction work in the country and boggle up OSHA's workers and courts to a point that it would be years before a case would be settled. But, on the other hand, a "Horse Sense" approach seems the best overall method of safely performing the work, yet keep a pretty tight rein on the enforcement of the OSHA regulations.
I agree that in many cases, contractors whether large of small try to use the "Donkey Way" and eke by on adherence to the rules and their employees suffer many needless injuries and deaths.
Here's the article which is quite long but good reading on a good subject:
Washington -- With the latest statistics showing a national uptick in on-the-job deaths, Fairhope safety activist Ron Hayes again urged lawmakers Tuesday to stiffen penalties for businesses that flout safety rules.
"There is no justice for us when we have a company that is blatant." Hayes, whose late teenage son was buried alive under tons of corn in a 1993 silo accident, told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
In particular, Hayes and other witnesses said, Congress should make employers subject to felony charges if their willful violation of a safety regulation leads to a worker's death. Such negligence is now a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in prison.
By contrast, improperly importing an exotic bird carries up to two years behind bars, committee Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, said.
Tuesday's hearing took place one day after Workers Memorial Day, a creation of organized labor that coincides with the 1971 founding of the U.S. Occupational and Health Administration, or OSHA.
No OSHA officials were invited to testify, but in a statement issued afterward, agency spokeswoman Sharon Worthy said that "election-year political theater cannot mask the truth that under his administration, workplace illness, injury and fatality rates are the lowest in OSHA's history"
In 2006, the last year for which figures are available, the workplace death rate for American workers remained unchanged at four per 100,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Inset:
FATALITIES
While the rate of fatal work injuries has remained largely f
lat in recent years, the actual number of deaths has
increased slightly, government statistics show:
1992...........................................6,217 deaths
1997...........................................6,238 deaths
2000...........................................5,920 deaths
2001...........................................5,915 deaths
2002...........................................5,534 deaths
2003...........................................5,575 deaths
2004...........................................5,764 deaths
2005...........................................5,734 deaths
2006...........................................5,840 deaths
Source U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But the actual number of fatalities increased nationally from 5,734 to 5,840. After a large drop in 2002, workplace deaths nationally have crept upward in every year but one.
Alabama, however, has bucked that trend, the numbers indicate. In 2006, the state recorded 100 on-the-job deaths, down from 128 the preceding year and 133 in 2004.
Frustrated by the ordeal of prying information out of OSHA after his son's death, Hayes founded The FIGHT Project, which stands for Families in Grief Hold Together. He testified Tuesday at Kennedy's request.
He also recommended that OSHA have someone to represent and help families, create a fatality investigation team, and allow families to sit in on negotiations with companies over penalties.
New legislation sponsored by Kennedy and almost two dozen other Democrats would strengthen punishments for employer misconduct, including the possibility of felony charges if willful negligence is suspected.
In the past, however, Republicans have opposed that provision. At Tuesday's hearing , for example, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., asked whether employers could be charged for worker deaths related to drug use.
"There have to be compelling factors for the negligence to be a threshold for the felony," Isakson said.
"I couldn't agree more," replied David Uhlmann, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches law at the University of Michigan. If the government tries to criminalize accidents, Uhlmann said, "judges and juries will bounce them right out of the courtroom,"
"It's the egregious cases we need to address," he added, "and right now we can't."
This article notes the rate of deaths on job sites all over the country and what the latest push is for OSHA to do more inspections and do more strict adherence to the Regulations.
Of course, there can always be very "hard nose" inspections and penalties issued that would literally shut down a large number of companies performing construction work in the country and boggle up OSHA's workers and courts to a point that it would be years before a case would be settled. But, on the other hand, a "Horse Sense" approach seems the best overall method of safely performing the work, yet keep a pretty tight rein on the enforcement of the OSHA regulations.
I agree that in many cases, contractors whether large of small try to use the "Donkey Way" and eke by on adherence to the rules and their employees suffer many needless injuries and deaths.
Here's the article which is quite long but good reading on a good subject:
Washington -- With the latest statistics showing a national uptick in on-the-job deaths, Fairhope safety activist Ron Hayes again urged lawmakers Tuesday to stiffen penalties for businesses that flout safety rules.
"There is no justice for us when we have a company that is blatant." Hayes, whose late teenage son was buried alive under tons of corn in a 1993 silo accident, told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
In particular, Hayes and other witnesses said, Congress should make employers subject to felony charges if their willful violation of a safety regulation leads to a worker's death. Such negligence is now a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in prison.
By contrast, improperly importing an exotic bird carries up to two years behind bars, committee Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, said.
Tuesday's hearing took place one day after Workers Memorial Day, a creation of organized labor that coincides with the 1971 founding of the U.S. Occupational and Health Administration, or OSHA.
No OSHA officials were invited to testify, but in a statement issued afterward, agency spokeswoman Sharon Worthy said that "election-year political theater cannot mask the truth that under his administration, workplace illness, injury and fatality rates are the lowest in OSHA's history"
In 2006, the last year for which figures are available, the workplace death rate for American workers remained unchanged at four per 100,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Inset:
FATALITIES
While the rate of fatal work injuries has remained largely f
lat in recent years, the actual number of deaths has
increased slightly, government statistics show:
1992...........................................6,217 deaths
1997...........................................6,238 deaths
2000...........................................5,920 deaths
2001...........................................5,915 deaths
2002...........................................5,534 deaths
2003...........................................5,575 deaths
2004...........................................5,764 deaths
2005...........................................5,734 deaths
2006...........................................5,840 deaths
Source U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But the actual number of fatalities increased nationally from 5,734 to 5,840. After a large drop in 2002, workplace deaths nationally have crept upward in every year but one.
Alabama, however, has bucked that trend, the numbers indicate. In 2006, the state recorded 100 on-the-job deaths, down from 128 the preceding year and 133 in 2004.
Frustrated by the ordeal of prying information out of OSHA after his son's death, Hayes founded The FIGHT Project, which stands for Families in Grief Hold Together. He testified Tuesday at Kennedy's request.
He also recommended that OSHA have someone to represent and help families, create a fatality investigation team, and allow families to sit in on negotiations with companies over penalties.
New legislation sponsored by Kennedy and almost two dozen other Democrats would strengthen punishments for employer misconduct, including the possibility of felony charges if willful negligence is suspected.
In the past, however, Republicans have opposed that provision. At Tuesday's hearing , for example, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., asked whether employers could be charged for worker deaths related to drug use.
"There have to be compelling factors for the negligence to be a threshold for the felony," Isakson said.
"I couldn't agree more," replied David Uhlmann, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches law at the University of Michigan. If the government tries to criminalize accidents, Uhlmann said, "judges and juries will bounce them right out of the courtroom,"
"It's the egregious cases we need to address," he added, "and right now we can't."
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