OSHA Speeches

Every worker has the right to a safe and healthful workplace.

• Record Type: Speech
• Subject: Every worker has the right to a safe and healthful workplace.
• Information Date: 06/12/1999
• Presented To: American Federation of State , County and Municipal Employees Regional Safety and Health Conference
• Speaker: Jeffress , Charles N.

"This document was published prior to the publication of OSHA's final rule on Ergonomics Program (29 CFR 1910.900, November 14, 2000), and therefore does not necessarily address or reflect the provisions set forth in the final standard."

• As a federal employee and a former state employee, I feel at home among AFSCME members. I appreciate where you are coming from and what you are trying to do. I also feel welcome thanks to Jordan Barab, formerly with AFSCME. He's been a most helpful addition to our team at OSHA, and we appreciate your sending him our way.

• Every worker has the right to a safe and healthful workplace. That's what the Occupational Safety and Health Act says. But for some public employees, safety and health on the job is a privilege rather than a right. That's because if their agencies won't do the right thing, they have nowhere to turn. Many, like those in Pennsylvania or Delaware, are not covered by federal or state OSHA programs.

• President Clinton and Vice President Gore want to change that. If you work for the government-federal, state or local-you shouldn't have less protection than someone doing the same job for a private employer. If anything, government should set an example. It's time to give public employees first class treatment instead of second class citizenship!

• Government employees operate heavy equipment, care for mentally ill and handicapped patients, service water and sewer facilities, maintain park and wilderness areas and keep order in prisons. Government workers are exposed to hazardous chemicals. Some of us have jobs that require repetitive motions or heavy lifting. Some may be threatened by dangerous animals or criminals with guns.

• Safety and health on the job is a serious issue. It's not a minor matter to be delegated to the least senior staffer and relegated to a dusty manual at the bottom of a bookshelf. We need to give safety and health protection for public sector workers the serious attention it deserves.

• OSHA now covers postal workers. That's a step in the right direction. But we need to go further. Congressman Andrews on February 23 introduced the "Fairness for State and Local Workers Act" to see that all state, county and municipal workers are covered by OSHA. On March 17, Senators Wellstone and Kennedy introduced the "Federal Employees Safety Enhancement Act" to extend full OSHA coverage to all federal workers. Public employees deserve the same rights that private sector workers enjoy!

• The workplace has changed significantly during the 20^th Century. We've moved from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy to a service-based, technology-driven, information-age economy. Many of the old hazards remain with us. But we also must address emerging issues among high tech workers and service providers.

• One of the issues that has come to the forefront over the past decade is work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Each year more than 600,000 U.S. workers suffer serious injuries as a result of overexertion or repetitive motion on their jobs. These injuries are painful and require a long time for recovery. Some will result in lifelong disability.

• I've talked with workers who continue to suffer from work-related musculoskeletal disorders long after their initial diagnosis. Severely injured workers may never be able to return to their jobs. They may not even be able to handle simple, every day tasks. Some can't comb their hair, pick up a baby, push a shopping cart or reach for a book on a high shelf.

• These injuries are not inevitable. They're not just a part of growing older. They don't have to happen. And they're not caused by playing tennis or golf on the weekends.

• They're not cheap either -- for workers or their employers. They cost business $15 to $20 billion each year in workers' compensation costs alone. The cost to workers can be even higher -- their livelihoods and the simple pleasures of everyday life.

• Now is the time for us to move forward with an ergonomics standard. We want employers to develop ergonomics programs to protect workers at high risk of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

• Some have charged a lack of "sound science" linking musculoskeletal disorders to work. Baloney! NIOSH analyzed 600 ergonomic studies in 1997. In 1998, the National Academy of Sciences verified the connection, concluding that the greater the physical stress, the greater the likelihood of injury. Further, the Academy pointed out that most people face their main exposure to physical stresses, such as heavy lifting and repetitive motion, on their jobs. Most important the Academy noted that reducing physical stress on the job reduces the risk of injuries.

• In other words, interventions work. Ergonomics programs work.

• Unfortunately, some would rather study the problem forever rather than adopt the solutions already proven successful. More than 140 representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of Congressman Blunt's bill to stop OSHA's ergonomics standard. Senator Bond has 35 co-sponsors in the Senate on a similar bill. We cannot let them succeed.

• Another study will support the findings and conclusions of the earlier NIOSH and NAS evaluations, which critics refused to accept as definitive. And those who are adamantly opposed to an OSHA ergonomics standard won't support the findings of the second NAS review they're insisting on. To our critics, it didn't matter what the Academy found last year. It didn't matter what NIOSH found before that. And the next study won't matter either. The naysayers have never seen a regulation they like, and they are determined to stop this one. We cannot simply stand by for two more years while a million more workers experience work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

• You know, and I know, it's time to move forward. Ergonomics programs work. They prevent painful injuries. They reduce costs. They increase productivity. And this administration is determined to make effective ergonomics programs the law of the land. With AFSCME's help, we will succeed.

• OSHA is working to address other health issues that affect public employees as well. We need to better protect the 5.6 million healthcare workers at risk for needlesticks. More than half a million of them experience needlesticks each year. Those injuries can lead to deadly bloodborne illnesses such as AIDS and hepatitis.

• We received nearly 400 responses when we asked last fall for information on preventing needlesticks. The data were clear: Safer needle devices mean fewer sticks. But not enough healthcare facilities are using these improved devices.

• Just purchasing a box of updated syringes is not sufficient, commentors told us. Employees must be involved in choosing the devices, establishing safer work practices and training fellow workers to take advantage of the new technology.

• OSHA has adopted a three-pronged approach to address this health concern. We've proposed changes in our recordkeeping rule that will require employers to record injuries resulting from contaminated needles and sharps. We'll publish a final recordkeeping rule this fall.

• We will also revise our bloodborne pathogens compliance directive to reflect the newer and safer technologies now available. And finally, we will take steps to amend the bloodborne pathogens standard by placing needlestick and sharps injuries on our regulatory agenda this fall. Together, these measures will serve to increase the use of safer devices and lower the risk of needlesticks for healthcare workers.

• Another issue for many healthcare workers is potential exposure to tuberculosis. We proposed a standard covering workplace exposure to TB in October 1997. As you know, one of the controversial issues in this rulemaking has been the feasibility and scope of coverage for workers at shelters for the homeless.

• Toward that end, next week we will re-open the tuberculosis record for 45 days to introduce the findings of a study on tuberculosis in homeless shelters. We're also seeking public comment on recommendations from AFSCME and others to expand coverage to parole and probation workers and to include all social workers under the standard. We expect to publish the final TB standard next spring.

• On another front, we are addressing the issue of personal protective equipment. The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission ruled last year that it was unclear who should pay for PPE, employees or employers. OSHA has proposed to clarify its original intention that employers must pay for this equipment unless it is prescription glasses or steel-toed shoes. The comment period on this proposal is open now, and the hearing will be on August 10.

• Another area of great concern to you and to OSHA is traffic safety. The leading cause of death on the job in the U.S. is traffic events. AFSCME has one of OSHA's Susan Harwood Training Grants to train workers involved with highway construction in hazard identification and avoidance.

• While OSHA will not be regulating over-the-road vehicles, we are particularly concerned about safety in highway construction work zones. This affects not only construction workers but those public employees who may be inspecting the job to verify that the work is proceeding as planned.

• In one case, in my home state of North Carolina, a state Department of Transportation worker was spray-painting markings to show where barrels should go to protect construction workers for the next day's work. But there was no barrier between the worker and the traffic and the worker was facing away from oncoming vehicles. He was struck and killed by a driver who moved out of the travel lane to pass several trucks. He was one of about 700 workers killed last year in construction work zones.

• Safety in highway construction work zones is going to be increasingly important as our nation spends $200 billion over the next four years to fix our roadways. With all the additional work, as many as 1,000 private and public sector workers could die if we don't actively work to prevent these deaths.

• The Department of Transportation will be taking the lead and working with the National Safety Council to address this issue. We've agreed to assist with this project. We need to alert the motoring public and workers who spend time in construction zones to the risks and how to avoid them.

• Public sector workers provide the services that build our communities. You teach children, fight fires, nurse veterans, catch crooks, maintain parks and manage the details of our life together. You're protecting and defending our mutual interests as citizens.

• We will defend your personal interests as well-as workers entitled to a safe and healthful working environment. Federal OSHA may not yet cover you. But we're working for you as we develop standards, conduct outreach and education programs and identify opportunities for partnerships.

• We appreciate the support AFSCME has given OSHA over the years -- and in some cases some pretty strong prodding. You pushed us to develop standards on ethylene oxide, bloodborne pathogens and tuberculosis. You pressed us to create workplace violence guidelines. And in each case you provided comments and helpful information to support the need for action on OSHA's part.

• Don't stop now. There's so much more we need to do. And we need your help to do it.

• We want every worker to go home whole and healthy every day. Municipal sanitation workers, city firefighters, county teachers, state highway patrol officers and federal environmental planners are all part of this vision. Working with your union, the President, Vice President Gore, Secretary Herman and OSHA are committed to making this vision a reality.