U.S. Workplaces: Unsafe and Unprotected

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/05/05/us-workplaces-unsafe-and-unprotected/

U.S. Workplaces: Unsafe and Unprotected

by Tula Connell, May 5, 2007

This is a cross post from the Firedoglake blog.

If George W. Bush ever worked in a factory manufacturing the popcorn that populates so many of our microwaves, he wouldn’t like the experience. And chances are if had worked in such a factory, he wouldn’t be able to do the things he does best as president—like jog and clearing brush on his Crawford ranch.

Eric Peoples, 35, spent several years at Jasper Popcorn, where he developed bronchiolitis obliterans, a severe, progressive disease of the lung. Eight other popcorn workers in Missouri came down with the same respiratory disease.



At that point, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) began inspecting plants and determined the illnesses were caused by the chemical additive diacetyl. But the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is charged with overseeing workplace safety, did very little. It did not increase plant inspections or mandate safety standards for businesses, even as more workers became ill.

Only days before congressional hearings last week on the issue did the Bush administration take its first steps to protect diacetyl-exposed workers, as George Michael reports on The Pump Handle, a health and safety blog.

Maybe if Bush’s lungs were at stake, he would have moved a little faster. (Check out the AFL-CIO BushWatch site to see the Bush administration’s troubling workplace safety record, including cutting funds for OSHA and reducing enforcement of safety rules.)

Peoples worked at Jasper in the 1990s. But even in 2005, more than 12,000 workers were injured or made ill each day from a range of workplace hazards (2005 is the most recent year for which data is available.) Even worse, 5,734 workers died from workplace injuries in 2005. And these statistics do not include deaths from occupational diseases, which claim the lives of an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 workers each year.

FULL story at link.

[glowing]

1. Wow, if the popcorn made workers sick, what is it doing to us

if we ingest it. Ok, now I'm banning microwave popcorn from the cupboard as well.

[blondie58]

2. wow- I had no idea

I'm with you, glowing. No more microwave popcorn for me- and I just had a bag. I don't like the things that I read about our food and what is put in it.

And welcome to DU!

[Nikia]

8. It would not necessarily be harmful to the consumer

I work in the food processing industry. One of the things that I learned is that food ingredients are not always safe, especially the food ingredients that generally make up only a small part of the actual finished product. We have multiple ingredients that are 2's as far as health hazards. One is a 3. As a point of comparision, lab grade alcohol is 1. Despite this, the finished products are generally safe to consume.

[Adsos Letter]

3. This does not surprise me

I have never worked in the industrial settings you speak of, but I did work in construction in Northern California for 30 years.

During that whole time I only knew of 2 visits by OSHA to a site we were working on; one was a commercial site where they did come in and issue several hefty citations for safety violations (no temporary railings around stairways, empty elevator shafts, etc).

The other time they only made their appearance after someone had fallen and injured themselves fairly seriously.

I will admit that most of my work was on very high-end single unit homes (8,000+ sq. ft.) and these are not the type of jobs OSHA seems to put much coverage on. And our work was primarily non-union...

But, it might be wise to do so; with the influx of "immigrant labor" into our service sectors over the last decade it seems that attention to safety standards on many jobs has declined. I don't blame this on the workers as much as on the managers who are responsible for seeing that workers are properly trained and outfitted for safety. This seems especially prominent in the Painting part of the industry, where exposure to toxins occur on a daily basis, often without proper education, not so much in their use, but in what exposure can lead to.

I admit it is a mystery to me, what with the costs associated with a "negligent injury/wrongful death suit, to put it in the crassest of monetary terms...I suspect the "illegal" status of these workers makes it easier for some to exploit them.

I am sure this is probably more of a problem in the non-union environment.

[blondie58]

4. that must be true

I am a postal worker and we get regular visits from OSHA and stand ups on different safety features. I think that the poor immigrants are getting taken advantage of, in more ways than one.

And welcome to DU, adsosletter!

[Adsos Letter]

5. Thanks blondie58

I am really, really enjoying the level of intelligent discussion here, as well as the general atmosphere of debate...much different from another board I belong to (which-shall-remain-nameless), or from HuffPost which, while it does have some good commentary by some posters, also seems to have a fairly strident internecine struggle going on which, if the thread lasts more than about 6 pages, usually descends into a pretty crude flame war...not that I haven't allowed myself to be dragged in at times...but this place is a breath of fresh air.

[blondie58]

6. yeah, I hear you

this board is pretty cool and rarely does it have any discord. People are usually nice, although sometimes you'll find someone who seems to 'want to pick a fight', but I think that might just be human nature, as some people do like to stir the pot.

If you get a chance, go check out some of Nance Greggs journal- she is our own personal little Molly Ivins. She has a way of stating what most of us feel, but more eloquently than I ever could.

[Adsos Letter]

7. thanks blondie58

I have read some of Nance Greggs' journaling, and was quite impressed...her work was one of the things which got me curious enough to check into this site further.