More Health & Safety
They Get It First, this morning I sent an op-ed by former Justice Department official David Uhlmann about OSHA's inability to pursue criminal penalties. The article was good, but check out the comments that accompany the op-ed. Turns out people get it, they really get it. Now, to turn that anger into some political energy that will actually accomplish some policy change.... http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2008/05/27/opinion/27uhlmann.html **** This appeared a week ago on the same theme of OSHA penalties:
Investigation: Discounted Lives Monday, May 19, 2008 - By Andy Pierrotti Ronald Wood remembers every important date in his three sons' lives. "We enjoy having our sons' home, all of them," says Wood as he stands looking at family pictures in his kitchen. But there's one date, he wishes he could forget. In April 2007, his youngest suffered an accident at work. Wood rushed to the hospital to find his 22-year-old-son, Travis, already dead. Travis died from a 31-foot fall at Automated Distribution Center in Gaffney, when someone drove into his forklift, while he tried to retrieve a package. OSHA cited ADS with 11 violations, including failing to implement "authorized plant speed limits" for forklifts and "reduced illumination" inside. The initial fine: $15,225 dollars, but months later the company protested, and OSHA cut its fine to $2,700 dollars if ADS promised to make the company safer. Wood is stunned to know about the reduced fine, "It's just unbelievable that they can actually get by with that small amount of money." It turns out this is not the only time OSHA reduced fines after an accident. A 7 On Your Side investigation found it's the norm. We dug through nearly four years worth of accidents investigated by the state's OSHA office and found that fines are reduced nearly 70 percent of the time through either settlements or employment penalty option agreements. Within those four years, 116 people left for work and never returned. More: http://www.wspa.com/midatlantic/spa/news.apx.-content-articles-SPA-2008-05-19-0024.html ***
Willow Island Finally, the Charleston Gazette ran a long series last month about the Willow Creek disaster where a scaffold collapse killed 51 workers thirty years ago. http://wvgazette.com/News/WillowIsland
It's been 30 years since the worst construction accident in U.S. history claimed 51 lives in Pleasants County. Look back on the disaster, the investigation and the people left behind.
Read the first story in the series
Watch an audio slideshow with historic photos
Video: The disaster still felt, 30 years later Click here for more related multimedia April 28, 2008 30 years after disaster, OSHA staff smaller Two months after 51 construction workers plunged to their deaths at Willow Island, then-Assi ... April 27, 2008 'It was gone': String of problems led to 51 deaths at Willow Island At about 10 a.m. on April 27, 1978, workers began raising the day's second bucket of concrete up ... April 27, 2008 'Start praying that our dad's alive' Disaster resonates to this day for family left behind WILLOW ISLAND - Angie Steele was 10 years old when the worst construction disaster in U.S. history w ... April 27, 2008 Willow Island: A personal reflection Thirty years later, I still get an eerie feeling when I drive by the gigantic towers where 51 worker ... April 27, 2008 Multimedia -- Willow Island: Revisited Audio slideshow with historic photos Video: The disaster' ... April 27, 2008 Reports of the investigations into the Willow Island Disaster Reports of the investigations into the Willow Island Disaster ... April 27, 2008 Willow Island Disaster Victims List of the fifty-one men killed in the 1978 scaffold collapse near Willow Island. ... |
