According to witnesses testifying before the House Education and Labor Committee last week, the Department of Labor’s longstanding failure to collect accurate data on workplace injuries and illnesses calls into question the agency’s claims that workplaces are getting safer and healthier.
“We simply must not allow a lack of information to permit hazardous working conditions to go unaddressed, putting workers’ limbs and lives at risk.”
Both employers and OSHA have incentives to report and use faulty data. The fewer injuries and illnesses an employer reports, the less likely the employer will be inspected by OSHA and the more likely it will pay lower premiums for workers compensation.
. “There are many reasons why OSHA would accept these numbers, but one important institutional factor has dramatically affected the agency: Steady annual declines in the number of workplace injuries and illnesses make it appear that OSHA is fulfilling its mission.”
OSHA uses workplace injury and illness statistics reported by employers, in part, to target inspections, evaluate its performance, and to determine when new health and safety standards may be needed.
“Society’s interest in preventing work-related injuries and illnesses is foiled when our picture of the true burden of work-related injuries and illnesses is distorted,” McLellen said. “We find anecdotal examples of distorted reporting troubling, suggesting a process and a system in need of review because of the potential for causing both medical harm and flawed statistical results.”
His employer used a system of disciplinary points where workers would receive points if they missed work, performed poorly, or even sustained an injury while on the job. As workers received more points, their salaries would be decreased and they would be subject to dismissal.
“Reporting illnesses or injuries can cause you to be unpopular with your coworkers, get disciplinary points, have your salary reduced, and ultimately lose your job,” said Span, a former Bashas’ food distribution worker. “The message was clear—don’t report, don’t talk, just keep you mouth shut or else.”
As much as 69% of all injuries and illnesses may never be reported to OSHA. An Education and Labor Committee staff report reviews the extent of the underreporting problem and offers explanations for it.
Broadway Concrete Fined $877,000 for Fall and Other Worksite Hazards
OSHA has cited 160 Broadway Corp., doing business as Broadway Concrete, for numerous alleged safety and health violations, proposing $877,000 in fines. The New York City-headquartered company is the concrete contractor for the construction of 77 Hudson, a condominium project involving two 50-story condominium towers in Jersey City, N.J. Broadway Concrete is owned by Robert Cassera, who also owns Tri-State Employment Service and several other businesses.
OSHA initiated its investigation on Dec. 19, 2007, in response to a complaint alleging several fall hazards. OSHA investigators found that the company failed to provide adequate fall protection for employees exposed to falls from as high as 25 stories above the ground. The company also failed to provide protection from protruding rebar. OSHA believes most of the violations were willful, because Broadway Concrete was fully aware of OSHA's fall-protection requirements. Broadway Concrete's superintendent for the 77 Hudson project, as well as its vice president, were previously managers at other concrete companies that had violated the same standards on many previous occasions.
In this case, OSHA visited the 77 Hudson project seven times between Dec. 19, 2007, and Jan. 24, 2008, and found the same violations on each successive floor as the building's height increased. Despite OSHA's repeated admonishments on each of these visits, Broadway Concrete's managers still failed to comply with OSHA construction standards. As a result, OSHA cited the company for 15 willful violations, with $870,000 in penalties, and two serious violations, with $7,000 in penalties.
"The many alleged safety violations found at Broadway Concrete's site put employees at great risk for potential injuries or death," Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke Jr. said. "Employers have a responsibility to take all required precautions to ensure a safe and healthy work environment."
OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to, or intentional disregard for, employee safety and health. Serious violations are those that could result in death or serious physical harm about which the employer knew or should have known.
Safety Tips for Working in Summer Heat
The hot days of summer are here. Throughout the country, thousands of employees who work outdoors face the potential dangers associated with overexposure to heat. Factors such as working in direct sunlight, high temperature and humidity, physical exertion and lack of sufficient water intake can lead to heat stress.
"During the warm season, it is important to understand that exposure to heat can cause serious illness or death," Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke Jr. said. "We encourage employers and employees to take advantage of OSHA's many free resources that offer advice on how to stay healthy while working outside."
Exposure to heat can cause heat cramps and rashes. The most serious heat-related disorders are heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Symptoms include confusion; irrational behavior; loss of consciousness; hot, dry skin; and abnormally high body temperature. Drinking cool water, reducing physical exertion, wearing appropriate clothing, and taking regular rest periods in a cool recovery area can lessen the effects of working in summer heat.
OSHA Cites Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center for Asbestos Violations
OSHA has cited Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center for alleged lack of employee safeguards and the improper removal and disposal of asbestos-containing material in a closed section of the hospital during renovation work in December 2007. The Niagara Falls, N.Y., medical facility faces $110,000 in proposed fines.
OSHA's inspection, prompted by an employee complaint, found that hospital employees removed asbestos-containing surfacing material (ACM) from a steel ceiling beam without proper protective clothing, respirators, and training. In addition, the material was not properly disposed, the employees' work clothes were not properly decontaminated, the work area was not monitored for asbestos levels, and the employees were not informed about the asbestos-containing material.
"There was a breakdown of essential precautions before, during, and after this work, and the sizable fines proposed here reflect the gravity of the hazard," said Arthur Dube, OSHA's area director in Buffalo. "The medical center's failure to supply and ensure these basic and required safeguards placed these employees at risk of debilitating illness."
Specifically, the medical center was issued 17 serious citations, carrying $85,000 in proposed fines, for:
- Not monitoring asbestos exposure levels during the work
- Not establishing a regulated area in which to remove the ACM
- Not using designated asbestos control methods
- Not providing employees with protective clothing, respirators, and training
- Dry sweeping and shoveling ACM; disposing of ACM in improper and unlabeled bags
- Depositing other waste and debris in a trash dumpster
- Improper and inadequate cleaning of contaminated uniforms, including allowing some employees to launder their contaminated uniforms at home
- Not having the work overseen by a competent person
In addition, one repeat citation, carrying a $25,000 fine, was issued for the medical center's failure to notify the employees of the presence, location, and amount of asbestos-containing or potentially asbestos-containing materials in the work area. OSHA had cited the hospital for a similar violation in April 2006.
Prolonged exposure to asbestos can lead to lung diseases, including lung cancer and mesothelioma.
OSHA Fines U.S. Oil Recovery More Than $50,000 for Alleged Safety Violations
OSHA has cited U.S. Oil Recovery and proposed penalties totaling $54,000 for alleged safety violations. The citation alleged 23 serious and 2 other-than-serious violations following an investigation that began January 3 at the company's facility in Pasadena, Calif. U.S. Oil Recovery—which specializes in sludge management services to refineries, cleaning and hauling services for oil waste products, and the storage of universal and non-hazardous wastes—employs about 25 workers at the Pasadena location.
"In order to avoid workplace injuries, employers must follow OSHA's health and safety standards,” said Dean McDaniel, OSHA's regional administrator in Dallas. "The inspection revealed that the company failed to do this."
Serious violations include failing to: provide machine guarding on belts and pulleys; identify confined spaces as well as having a procedure for summoning rescue personnel during confined space entries; provide energy control procedures; and provide adequate washing facilities for employees working with corrosives. A serious violation is one with the potential to cause death or serious physical harm to employees when the employer knew or should have known of the hazard.
The other-than-serious violations related to the company's failing to provide OSHA injury and illness logs and failing to label and identify hazardous chemicals. Other-than-serious violations are issued when a violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is not serious in nature.
Fireworks Safety Video Now Available
Developed under a contract with the American Pyrotechnics Association, the video is also designed to help employers and employees identify and reduce pyrotechnics hazards.