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Work is a
dangerous place—even for a nurse in a small
doctor's office on Manhattan's tony upper east
side, where recently a four-story building
came crashing down after an apparent gas
explosion. As of this writing, 14 people were
injured, including the doctor who owned the
building that also housed his practice and is
now under investigation for causing the blast.
(The nurse was unscathed—she was running
late.)
In 2004 (the
latest available figures), non-government
employers reported 4.3 million non-fatal
injuries and illnesses (skin disorders,
respiratory conditions, poisoning and hearing
loss), according to the Bureau of Labour
Statistics. Of these, almost 1.3 million
injuries required a worker to miss at least
one day of work. Good news is, workplace
injuries have been declining for at least a
decade, and the safety cops at the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
expect the trend to continue.
Running into
or getting whacked by an object is the most
common threat. Then you have your litany of
slips, trips and falls, followed by
transportation accidents, exposure to harmful
substances and repetitive motion injuries.
(Fun fact: You are close to five times more
likely to be injured by a violent attack by
another person than by a fire or explosion.)
Just about every body part is at risk, backs
especially; for whatever reason, toes enjoy
the most protection.
The most
frequent injuries are sprains and strains,
followed by bruises and contusions, cuts and
lacerations and fractures. (Amputations, most
prevalent in manufacturing jobs, account for
just 0.6 per cent of all injuries.)
Oddly enough,
a seemingly low-impact injury like carpal
tunnel syndrome, while not nearly as commonly
reported as sprains and strains, sidelines
workers for a median of 28 days (a tie with
fractures).
What can be
done? With around 1,050 inspectors for
approximately seven million workplaces, OSHA
can't inspect every site. Director of
Enforcement Richard Fairfax says the agency
tries to direct resources to the places with
the highest incident rates. OSHA issues fines
of up to $70,000 for each repeat or wilful
workplace safety violation, and has slapped
companies such as BP, Samsung and US Steel
with multimillion-dollar fines. In 2005, the
agency levied its largest penalty ever,
spanking BP for $21 million after an explosion
at its Texas City, Texas refinery killed 15.
The problem
is that workplace injuries are not confined to
manufacturing plants and construction sites.
According to the BLS, service industries
employed 79 per cent of non-government workers
and accounted for 68 per cent of the most
severe injuries and illnesses overall. Those
statistics don't sit right with Bill Borwegen,
occupational health and safety director of the
Service Employees International Union, the
nation's largest labour union, who says that
85 per cent of OSHA's inspections are geared
toward construction and manufacturing.
Borwegen also points out that, while the
number of injuries has declined, in 2004 the
fatality rate ticked up for the first time in
a decade, to 4.1 per 1,00,000 workers.
Injuries of
any sort can put a dent in productivity, a big
reason why employers are paying more attention
to injury prevention, says Kim Lopez, chief
executive officer of Sausalito,
California-based Remedy Interactive. Remedy
provides software and consulting services that
help large companies such as Chevron,
Hewlett-Packard and Northrop Grumman track
injury data and pinpoint accident-prone areas
throughout their operations. "The fact
is, worker-injury costs are preventable,"
she says.
So long as a
gas pipe doesn't explode.
(Article from
Forbes.com)
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