Don't let OSHA delay work crews from hurricane clean-up

OSHA has rolled into town and will halt the clean-up process to the best of its ability.

Sure, OSHA serves its purpose, making sure disreputable employers provide safe working conditions for their employees. But there is no place for OSHA in such an unprecedented catastrophe as Katrina.

With luck, we may have a couple of more weeks of dry weather before the rains set inand the mud will make it impossible to work on the roadside and in yards, removing debris.

Our crew was working near Bogalusa, La., loading tree trucks and limbs from the roadside, when a self-important, short-spoken OSHA official stopped to issue ultimatums such as sawyers must wear chaps, protective glasses and hard hats; and truck drivers must wear hard hats and reflective vests. She said this was the only warning; next time she would write us up and we would pay fines.

To start with, we might find some sort of vests but there are no chaps and few hardhats to be found in south Louisiana or Mississippi.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has also issued regulations for flagmen regarding orange flags and orange vests, and I will admit it has more substance to its requirements, though this is no time for DOT to go around shutting down work crews.

Those who want their street and town cleared of debris should make a call to their local or state authorities and tell them they want their town's crews left alone.

Sure somebody will be injured, as it goes with the job and no arrogant OSHA official can stop it from happening. All they can do is stop many hard-working crews from trying to make two once-beautiful states beautiful again.

Mike Reese
Columbus
(emphasis added)

OSHA (unfortunately) has virtually no power to shut down a workplace. The only exception is when there's an imminent danger (e.g. someone is about to get killed) and they get a court order (which sort of contradicts the imminent danger of the situation). And it gets worse. It's generally months after the inspection that OSHA cites an employer, and if the employer appeals, he doesn't have to fix the problem until the appeal is resolve -- often months or years later.

Here we have two myths in one sentence. First, the myth that the only justification for OSHA enforcement is a few "disreputable" employers out there and second, that safe working conditions are a luxury only affordable when we have the time and money to afford them.

It's not just those few really really bad, evil unscrupulous employers who fail to fix unsafe working conditions allowing workers to be injured or killed anymore than it's raging sociopathic alcoholics who cause fatal automobile accidents. People have a tendency to cut corners and hope for good luck if they're in a hurry or have a chance to earn more money. That's why "good" people as well as very bad people sometimes run afoul of the law and need a gentle reminder that society works best when we all obey the law -- but sometimes we need a cop or an OSHA inspector to "remind us."

In addition, just because we're legitimately in a hurry or doing really important work doesn't mean we can suspend all laws and safe working conditions. Sure, in a mass catastrophe, people are going to do what they need to do to save as many lives as possible -- OSHA regs be damned. But, first we're long past that point on the Gulf Coast, and second, even emergency situations are no excuse for flinging safety aside. OSHA standard require that workers be trained in safe rescue; rushing in without proper training and equipment often just results in increasing the numbers of victims, which is why statistics show that as many rescuers as original victims are killed in confined space and trench rescues.

Getting injured does not just go with the job. Injuries are not inevitable, acts of nature or God's will. They are simply the result of unsafe working conditions, lack of training, lack of proper personal protective equipment, etc. He's right that OSHA officials can't stop every injury, any more than cops can stop every traffic accident, robbery or mugging. But OSHA inspectors and cops can enforce the law to the best of their ability and, hopefully, establish enough of a deterrent so that all but the truly criminal will think twice about breaking the law and endangering other people.

Labels: Katrina