ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 27, 1996 TAG: 9604290019
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ELLIOTT SMITH STAFF WRITER
In the 25 years since federal workplace safety and health laws were enacted, on-the-job fatalities have declined by 72 percent and work-related injuries have dropped 23 percent, allaying fears for those who believed the workplace is dangerous.
But the Occupational Safety and Health Act, enacted a quarter century ago Sunday, still draws strong feelings from supporters who think it doesn't go far enough to protect workers, and critics who say regulators are niggling in looking for hazards.
Walter Wise, president of the Roanoke United Central Labor Council, said OSHA's record, while promising, should be better.
"The statistics speak for themselves," he said. "The number of deaths have been cut in half, so OSHA has obviously addressed needs; but as long as someone dies, there's always room for improvement."
"It has good intent, and the laws make sense," said Doug Henson, a lawyer at the Center for Employment Law, a Roanoke firm that generally represents employers. "But they apply them very technically, and the rules tend to be over-inclusive.
"It gobbles up people who really are safe but get caught on a technicality."
According to the National Safety Council, more than 140,000 lives have been saved since the passage of OSHA in 1970. The law took effect in April 1971.
Last year, 6,567 workers died on the job, 50,000 died from work-related diseases, and more than seven million were injured, according to the AFL-CIO. In Virginia, 48 workers died, and 200,000 were injured, the labor organization said.
But trying to improve those numbers may be difficult. According to the AFL-CIO, OSHA's $264 million budget is less than a dollar per person in the United States, and understaffing means the agency would take 106 years to inspect each workplace once.
``Enforcement of the law needs to be stronger,'' said Peg Seminario, health and safety director for the national AFL-CIO.
But two Republican members of Congress have proposed legislation to cut OSHA's funding, eventually leading to its elimination.
A bill sponsored by Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C., would allow employers to remedy safety and health violations before being fined or cited, except when serious injury or death occurred, and eliminate the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kan., has sponsored a similar measure.
"My first reaction to that can't be printed in a paper," Wise said. "We lost 55,000 workers, and they want to cut funds?''
"The effect of these bills that are pending would be disastrous," said Anita Lawrence, president of Citizens to Improve Workers Compensation, a Martinsville group that has proposed greater safety standards in the region's textile factories. "If Congress succeeds, we'll have double the numbers of deaths and injuries."
Despite the controversy, OSHA continues to try to deal with work-related problems, including poor job design, repetitive work and workplace violence, which it claims are the most important problems now facing workers.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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