An old friend has chosen to become a grumpy old white man Tea Party kind of guy. The kind of old friend who gets you wondering if facebook is such a great idea. I post worker safety & health stuff pretty often. He always responds: it was the workers fault, the company couldnt have known, & if they did they werent responsible, and the chemical isnt that dangerous, I think my favorites are “if they dont like your job quit, you arent a slave” & “get your bureaucratic do-gooder hands off my business”. Cliches, right? But pretty much policy statements from the Chamber of Commerce and their ilk. Workplace injuries and illnesses happen because workers are exposed to hazards. Reducing or eliminating risk saves lives. You can get really complicated about this stuff but it breaks down simple. Hazard exposure equals problems for the workers. Dont argue with us about TLVs and PPM. Change the workplace so it stops hurting people. The question of responsibility for workplace hazards was settled when the OSH Act codified in 1971 and settled by the courts in 1987 with the UAW v General Dynamics decision. Its called the General Duty Clause. The employer has an overall duty to prevent risk that is knowable and preventable. Walmart is fighting that responsibility. Remember the trampling to death two years ago of a temp worker posted alone to guard the front doors of a Walmart from a mob of shoppers geeked up by the company to engage in some competitive shopping? Walmart has appealed the $7,000 they got for that death and is spending millions in an attempt to overturn corporate responsibility for workplace safety. My Randian pal worries that OSHA is a jackbooted footsoldier of big brother storming through workplaces slapping CEOs with a clipboard telling corporations how to run their businesses. Only in his myths. In reality OSHA is a small agency that has been crippled for decades by politics and under-staffing. Its probably had two decent periods – under Eula Bingham in the Carter years & now with David Michaels in charge. In reality, the understaffed agency is protecting working folks. And in reality, good safety & health practices can benefit corporate bottom lines. But it takes investment to correct for years of malpractice, so ya know, cant do it, concerned about next quarter. Scary Michigan OSHA? They cant even count straight. Its well documented that Mich-OSHA only reports one out three (yes, 1/3) of all workplace injuries and illnesses in the state. Scary? Not to employers who are get a special Great Recession discount on already heavily discounted fines when they break the law. Do you know what Michigan thinks your life is worth? There are exceptions, but most Michigan OSHA fines for killing a worker are less than $5000. And zero jail time. Too many rules? Dont worry, in 2011 the legislature passed a law saying Michigan cannot have better standards than the out-of-date standards of the feds. The mantra of letting the states make the rules apparently only applies to making it better for employers. Monday April 28 is International Workers Memorial Day. Jobs with Justice and the Metro Detroit Labor Council are hosting a workers in black silent march and vigil at Hart Plaza from 3:30 to 6 pm. Weve got so much to say about the attacks on working people that only silence can get the message across. Be there. Call 248-838-9377 or email jwjsem @gmail for more information. My Randian buddy? He was unloading hay from a pickup truck, a dozen feet off the ground, no harness, leaned too far, and fell on his head. It didnt knock any sense into him. He still thinks workers are to blame. Just not him. Jimmie Higgins for JwJ-Detroit
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 16:56:10 +0000
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