ASSE pushes for more workplace safety coverage
Bob Vavra
The American Society of Safety Engineers has written to U.S. Rep. Lynn C. Woolsey, urging her committee to keep public sector occupational safety and health coverage provisions in the Protecting America's Workers Act (PAWA).
In his letter to Rep. Woolsey, the chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor's Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, ASSE President C. Christopher Patton noted that more than eight million public sector state and municipal workers are not provided federal occupational safety and health protections due to the fact that the Occupational Safety and Health Act only requires such coverage in states with their own occupational safety and health plans.
"ASSE supports providing all public sector employees with federal OSH protections," Patton said. "We strongly urge you to keep the provision that would provide this coverage in the PAWA bill now under consideration. Don't turn your back on the workers who deserve this coverage."
As noted in the letter, this is a key concern of ASSE members. An investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Board (CSB) into the 2006 Daytona Beach municipal water treatment facility that took the lives of two workers found Florida's lack of OSH coverage for its public sector workers contributed to those deaths. In response, ASSE Florida members led ASSE to provide the resources needed to help pass legislation in 2008 establishing a task force charged with determining how to best protect Florida's workers that reinforced the need to provide the state's public sector employers to meet federal OSH Act standards, without any enforcement provisions or resources to support the requirement. A bill requiring these protections failed to pass in 2009. The bill passed the House, Patton notes, but not the Senate due to Florida's budget crisis.
"The reality is that the only effective way full public sector worker OSH coverage will be achieved any time soon is through your leadership at this unique time in history when Congress is in a position to consider reforms to the OSH Act," Patton said. "Public sector workers' lives depend on your unwavering commitment to their safety and health. We don't want to see more lives lost when Congress has the power to protect these workers."
- Related News:
ASSE supports OSHA’s injury, illness prevention program standard - 14.02.2011 12:52
Case Study Database
Get more exposure for your case study by uploading it to the Plant Engineering case study database, where end-users can identify relevant solutions and explore what the experts are doing to effectively implement a variety of technology and productivity related projects.
These case studies provide examples of how knowledgeable solution providers have used technology, processes and people to create effective and successful implementations in real-world situations. Case studies can be completed by filling out a simple online form where you can outline the project title, abstract, and full story in 1500 words or less; upload photos, videos and a logo.
Click here to visit the Case Study Database and upload your case study.
2012 Salary Survey
In a year when manufacturing continued to lead the economic rebound, it makes sense that plant manager bonuses rebounded. Plant Engineering’s annual Salary Survey shows both wages and bonuses rose in 2012 after a retreat the year before.
Average salary across all job titles for plant floor management rose 3.5% to $95,446, and bonus compensation jumped to $15,162, a 4.2% increase from the 2010 level and double the 2011 total, which showed a sharp drop in bonus.