Little Has Changed To Protect Workers

Little Has Changed To Protect Workers

Little Has Changed To Protect Workers
Editorial

Wednesday, September 30, 2009


Twenty months of investigations and reports on the causes of the explosions and fire at Imperial Sugar in February 2008 that took so many lives and injured many more lead to one conclusion: there is no pro-active mandatory and punishable state or federal inspection process in place to protect workers.

What occurred at Imperial Sugar, based on this week's report by the CSH, is a disgusting picture of corporate abuse of workers at its worse.

The potential for explosions and fires from industrial dust are prevalent in many Georgia plants, not just the food-processing industry, and should cause Georgia lawmakers and our congressional delegation to get aggressive in addressing the disjointed and ineffective labyrinth of regulations, directives and laws now in place.

Understanding what went wrong at Imperial Sugar begins with a fundamental understanding of who is responsible for the safety of the workplace.

The Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 states that employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace for their employees. Do the right thing appears to be the approach of our federal government, even though hundreds of lives are lost every year in industrial accidents.

OSHA's role is to promote the safety and health of America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health.

But is there pro-active inspection of plants to insure compliance with known industry research on workplace hazards? The answer appears to be "No."

Ask the average guy on the street what OSHA does, and you'll hear a basic belief that this federal agency goes into every U.S.manufacturing plant and inspects the plant for a number of safety issues that could affect the lives or health of workers. Not so.

As an aid to Sen. Saxby Chambliss said to me last Thursday night after the CSB's presentation in Savannah, "That would be an impossible task. We would have to have an enormous federal agency to do that."

Neither of Georgia's U.S. senators, Chambliss or Johnny Isakson, will join with Congressman John Barrow in calling for immediate changes in OSHA regulations, and needed changes. They produced a double-speak statement Thursday night, declining his invitation to sign on to legislative changes he has proposed.

Current laws require that every employer provide their workers with a place of employment that is free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm. The Department of Labor is allowed to conduct inspections and to issue citations and proposed penalties for alleged violations. The worst penalty authorized, however, is a misdemeanor....another problem in the sea of what is wrong. And inspections only take place when complaints are made.

That workers have to complain...forced to regulate their employers...appears to be the approach of current OSHA regulations. Or the a number of workers have to be sick at a plant before an inspection takes place, it seems. Too often, workers are not going to speak up for fear of losing their jobs, of course.

On Friday morning, Feb. 9, 2008, the day after the fires broke out at Imperial Sugar, the Savannah Business Journal called the regional OSHA office located in Savannah and made a Freedom of Information request for any OHSA reports regarding Imperial Sugar and any complaints filed by workers at the plant.

We were told that there were no recent OSHA inspections. The local director explained that manufacturers file quarterly reports on worker's wellness, and unless workers are getting sick, OSHA does not inspect a plant.

The local OSHA office had, however, received a complaint from an employee at the plant in November 2007, three months before the explosion, about conditions at the plant.

OSHA is required to investigate complaints. It stated that it had done so, and there were no violations cited. It provided us with a picture that had been sent by the employee of old wooden floor beams, as one thing that the employee was concerned about.

The plant has had a number of fires over the past few years, fires that started for a number of reasons, according to the CSB, and because none of them resulted in a major explosion, and all of the fires were able to be extinquished, the company was lulled into a state of complacency.

That's another problem in the issue of industrial safety. Many of the fire protection regulations of the state and federal government are supposed to be carried out and enforced by the local fire chief. Just how do we all see that playing out in Port Wentworth?

Congressman Barrow appears to be the lone voice in Georgia seeking to force OSHA to put in place the recommendations of the CSB, made in 2006, to improve the standards for industrial dust procedures. But enforcement of standards and penalties for managers who allow workers to stand in dust inches deep is also sorely needed.

We learned this week from the CSB that a notice was sent out in October 2007, four months before the explosion at Imperial Sugar, to manufacturers emphazing the hazards of industrial dust, which was supposed to have been reviewed with workers.

Perhaps it was that directive that caused a worker at Imperial Sugar to file a complaint with OSHA. We'll never know.



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