SMART UnionThe evening of Jan. 5, 2005, was dry and cool in Graniteville, S.C. At 6:10, a 12-car Norfolk Southern freight train pulled up to the Avondale Mills textile plant, and Jim Thornton, a conductor with 18 years’ experience, climbed down from the locomotive to open a switch and let the train roll onto a siding.
It was getting close to the hour by which, according to law, the crew had to quit for the day and rest.
Read the complete article by Dan Baum at Popular Science.
WASHINGTON – In 2011, 4,693 workers were killed on the job, according to a new AFL-CIO report, “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect.” That is an average of 13 workers every day.
In addition, another estimated 50,000 die every year from occupational diseases – an average of 137 a day, bringing the total worker fatalities to 150 a day.
North Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska and Arkansas had the highest workplace fatality rates, while New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Washington had the lowest. Latino workers, especially those born outside of the United States, continue to face rates of workplace fatalities 14 percent higher than other workers, the same as last year.
In 2011, 3.8 million workers across all industries experienced work-related illnesses and injuries. The true toll is estimated to be two to three times greater, but lack of reporting in this area results in lower official figures.
The job fatality rate had been declining steadily for many years, but in the past three years the rate has essentially been unchanged, at 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers. Similarly, for the past two years, there has been no change in the reported workplace injury and illness rate (3.5 per 100 workers).
This year’s report comes on the heels of a horrific explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, which killed 15 people, injured hundreds more and caused widespread destruction.
The report also examines the role of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 43 years after its creation. It finds that OSHA remains underfunded and understaffed, and that penalties are too low to deter violations. Because of the underfunding, federal OSHA inspectors can only inspect workplaces once every 131 years on average, and state OSHA inspectors would take 76 years to inspect all workplaces.
OSHA penalties are too low to be taken seriously, let alone provide deterrence. The average penalty is only $2,156 for a serious federal health and safety violation, and only $974 for a state violation. Even in cases involving worker fatalities, the median total penalty was a paltry $5,175 for federal OSHA and $4,200 for the OSHA state plans. By contrast, property damage valued between $300 and $10,000 in the state of Illinois is considered a Class 4 felony and can carry a prison sentence of 1 to 3 years and a fine of up to $25,000.
Criminal penalties under OSHA are also weak. While there were 320 criminal enforcement cases initiated under federal environmental laws and 231 defendants charged in fiscal year 2012, only 84 cases related to worker deaths have been prosecuted since 1970.
In the face of an ongoing assault on regulations by business groups and Republicans in Congress, progress on many new important safety and health rules has stalled. The White House Office of Management and Budget has delayed needed protections, including OSHA’s draft proposed silica rule, which has been held up for more than two years.
“In 2013, it is unacceptable that so many hardworking men and women continue to die on the job,” said AFL-CIO President and third-generation coal miner Richard Trumka. “No one should have to sacrifice his or her life or health and safety in order to earn a decent living. Yet, elected leaders, business groups and employers have failed to provide adequate health and safety protections for working families. At the same time, too many politicians and business leaders are actively working to dismantle working people’s right to collectively bargain on the job and speak out against unsafe, unjust working conditions. This is a disgrace to all those who have died. America’s workers deserve better.”
“Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” was released after hundreds of Workers Memorial Day vigils, rallies and action were held across the country to commemorate all those workers who died and were injured on the job.
The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday against the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and their ruling that workplaces must display posters about union organizing, bargaining and protests.
The law would have insisted that more than six million private employers post a “notification of employee rights.” The one-page poster was to include basic rights protected by Federal Labor Law, including the right to join a union and go on strike. Failure to comply with the rule would have resulted in charges being brought against the employer in an unfair labor practice case.
The three-judge-panel stated that the rule was a violation of employers’ rights to freedom of speech, as the poster did not include any opposing information such as how to decertify a union or avoid paying dues.
The rule was scheduled to go into effect last year but was put on hold due to legal challenges posed by the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Right to Work Legal Defense, National Federation of Independent Business, Education Foundation and other business lobbyists. They challenged that the poster requirement was to promote unionization of the work force.
Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson wrote, The National Labor Relations Act “simply does not authorize the board to impose on an employer a freestanding obligation to educate its employees on the fine points of labor relations law.” Unions and the NLRB itself are free to display posters and do so, Henderson noted.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka came out against the ruling stating, the “D.C. Circuit has once again undermined workers’ rights – this time by striking down a common-sense rule requiring employers to inform workers of their rights under federal labor law. In today’s workplace, employers are required to display posters explaining wage and hour rights, health and safety and discrimination laws, even emergency escape routes. The D.C. Circuit ruling suggests that courts should strike down hundreds of notice requirements…”
A bill in the New York Legislature is proposing that ignition interlocks be placed on all school buses. The ignition interlock would detect alcohol on the driver’s breath and would refuse to start up if alcohol is detected.
This bill was prompted by several accidents involving intoxicated bus drivers in N.Y. within the past year. One intoxicated driver ran his bus with kids aboard into a house.
“Parents entrust their children’s lives and safety to school bus drivers,” said Senator Charles Fuschillo. “They have every right to expect and demand that the bus driver is sober.”
If passed, the new law will go into effect in 2015.
SEPTA and Port Authority employers are awaiting a decision to be made by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) on whether or not they can continue to ignore state law and keep drivers on the clock for shifts lasting up to 18 hours. SEPTA drivers can work up to 30 hours within a two-day period. Pennsylvania state law currently states that it is illegal for drivers to drive for more than 10 hours or work shifts longer than 15 hours. SEPTA employers frequently overlook this law.
PennDOT was petitioned by the Port Authority as well as SEPTA to put in place a temporary waiver to the law. They are asking for a three-year waiver to the law and propose to work with PennDOT and Pa. legislators to amend the hours-of-service policy. Transit employers want the law changed to the same policy as rail transit drivers. The policy for rail transit drivers states that a driver can be scheduled to work up to 16 hours with no more than 14 hours of actual work during that span and at least 10 hours rest between shifts.
SEPTA and Port Authority argue that to obey the current law they would have to spend millions to hire enough drivers. SEPTA argues that to be in compliance, the city of Philadelphia would need to hire an additional 135 drivers at a cost of $4.7 million a year and a one-time training cost of $600,000. If additional drivers are not hired, SEPTA claims that they would have to cut service by four percent to be in compliance.
SEPTA asserts that sleep and public safety do not factor into this issue and are “unaware of any evidence to suggest that the long-standing practice of exempting Pennsylvania transit agencies from hours-of-service regulations presents any substantial risk to public safety.”
Sleep experts disagree. It is a well-known fact through numerous sleep studies that sleep has an effect on a person’s ability to perform. According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), “sleepiness/fatigue in the work place can lead to poor concentration, absenteeism, accidents, errors, injuries and fatalities.
People who work in the transportation industry face some of the most serious challenges. They battle fatigue because of their irregular sleep schedules and endure long tedious hours at the controls or behind the wheel. In fact, research suggests that driver fatigue behind the wheel caused by sleep deprivation is one of the leading safety hazards in the transportation industry.”
The foundation also states that the more tired you are, the more likely you are to experience what is called a “microsleep” which is an involuntary bout of sleep brought on by sleep deprivation that lasts for a few seconds.
PennDOT is expected to make a decision on this issue by the end of this month.
OLD FORT, N.C. — A railroad worker who was killed early May 6 in a mudslide, was the father of three children and always had a smile on his face, his wife said.
Joe Drewnoski, 33, of Waynesville, died on Old Fort Mountain early Monday morning while inspecting track after a mudslide with another Norfolk Southern worker.
Read the full story at the Asheville Citizen-Times.
WASHINGTON – The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) May 3 issued an industry-wide safety advisory to warn about safety hazards associated with flat switching operations on railroads. Since 2009, six railroad employees sustained fatal injuries placing themselves between unsecured rolling equipment during switching operations, including one employee who was killed last year.
“Safety is our highest priority,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We are committed to taking the necessary steps to secure the safety of the traveling public, as well as those working in the transportation field.”
In flat switching, rail cars are diverted to the proper track to complete a train by one of two methods, either by “manually kicking” or “shoving to couple.” When rail cars are kicked, they are uncoupled from the switching locomotive while in motion, allowed to roll freely and are expected to couple with the other rail cars upon impact with the new train. When rail cars are shoved to couple, they are not uncoupled from the switching locomotive until they have already coupled with and are secured to the new train.
Through investigations of one of the six fatalities, FRA identified switching yard characteristics that may increase the risks of unsecured rail equipment rolling back onto an employee if an irregular grade is present in a flat switching yard.
During kicking operations, employees are at greater risk if the rail car doesn’t couple securely with other rail cars already resting on the destination track.
“Kicking railcars is efficient but it can also have significant consequences if rail carriers don’t have operating rules to safeguard employees to ensure that kicked rail cars are securely coupled,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph C. Szabo. “Where there is risk of a rollback shoving to couple provides absolute certitude.”
In 2010, FRA released recommendations developed by the Switching Operations Fatality Analysis Working Group (SOFA) that have been adopted by individual railroads in their operating rules. Today’s Safety Advisory 2013-03 warns railroad management and employees about the inherent dangers of employee movements between unsecured rolling rail cars. It advises railroads to review and follow SOFA recommendations previously set forth in a FRA 2011 Safety Advisory and, where conditions exists, to develop operating rules that safeguard employees, and advises employees to follow the rules.
To learn more about Safety Advisory 2013-03 please click here.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood May 3 announced he is providing $30.2 million to Amtrak to repair damage caused by Hurricane Sandy along its heavily-traveled Northeast Corridor. The funding comes from the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 and is being provided by the Federal Railroad Administration.
“Amtrak serves as a critical transportation link throughout the Northeast Corridor, and we are committed to helping it rebuild from Hurricane Sandy on behalf of the thousands of riders who rely on it each day,” said Secretary LaHood. “We continue to do all we can to help make all of our storm-damaged public transportation systems whole again.”
Today’s grant reimburses Amtrak for $20.1 million for expenses associated with pumping water from tunnels and debris removal and for immediate and on-going repairs to vital infrastructure needed to operate more than 2,000 trains along the Northeast Corridor each day. The balance of the grant money will fund repairs to the East Tunnel that connects Manhattan and Queens, the North River Tunnel that connects New Jersey and New York City, and other facilities.
Following Hurricane Sandy, four of the six tunnels between New York City and New Jersey flooded with seawater. Immense amounts of water and debris were removed from the tunnels and system-wide repairs had to be completed before service could be restored. The most critical damage was to electrical systems, particularly the Kearney substation, located in Kearney, New Jersey, plus signals, lighting, mechanical rooms, and emergency call boxes. The damage was caused by wind, heavy rains and saltwater.
“The storm’s wake demonstrates the necessity to not only rebuild, but to invest in our infrastructure so we are better prepared to withstand and recover from future natural disasters,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph C. Szabo.
Additional repairs to rail, ties, ballasts, third rail signal systems, pump stations, circuit breakers, and vital infrastructure are still on-going and are expected to continue throughout the summer months.
The appropriations measure was signed into law by President Obama on January 29, 2013. The total appropriation related to Amtrak’s recovery from Sandy was $32 million.
By Ron Ingerick,
North Carolina State Legislative Director –
The deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, and the deaths of workers and first responders there should be a wake-up call for all of us here.
Last year, in North Carolina, 148 of our hardworking sisters and brothers left for work one day and didn’t come home to their families. That’s 148 deaths that could have been prevented if all employers followed job safety requirements and put needed safeguards and protections in place.
Every day people suffer workplace injuries from combustible dust explosions or exposure to well-known hazards like asbestos, benzene and silica dust. Some 78,000 North Carolinians a year are injured or sickened on the job. These occurrences are all too common, leaving workers powerless and affecting thousands of families.
That is why it is important to empower workers to speak out against safety violations. The freedom a union contract provides is one way workers can find their voice. Government doing its job to protect the public is another, but corporations and their bought politicians are fighting back with false claims that regulations kill jobs. Enforcement has been weakened, budgets slashed, and people we love continue to be put at risk.
Did you know, for example, that there are only 99 OSHA inspectors in our state, or that it would take 59 years to inspect each North Carolina workplace just once? According to news reports, the fertilizer plant in Texas had not been inspected since 1985.
When Big Business abdicates its responsibility to pay the cost to have and keep safe workplaces, the rest of us end up paying for it in blood and tears. But when working people in North Carolina demand adequate regulations and enforcement, lives will be saved, and everyone’s jobs will be safer.
Let us not forget our immigrant sisters and brothers who disproportionately hold riskier jobs and continue to be at an increased risk of job fatalities. In 2010, the majority of Latino workplace deaths — 500 out of 729 — were among immigrant workers. Employers take advantage of these workers, many of whom lack documents or are unable to speak up because they do not know they have rights as individuals working in the United States. Workplace illnesses and injuries do not discriminate on the basis of legal status, but the inability of some workers to raise red flags about problems puts the health and safety of all workers at risk.
Every year on April 28, Workers Memorial Day, we pay tribute to those who have lost their lives on the job, as well as those who’ve been hurt or made sick due to workplace safety violations. As we remember our dead in North Carolina, we call on our elected officials to do more and do better.
All workers should be able to go to work and return home safe and sound to their loved ones, and no worker should have to sacrifice life, limbs or health to earn an honest day’s pay.
The preceding editorial by Ron Ingerick Jr. was published April 26 by the Asheville Citizen-Times. Ingerick is the North Carolina State Legislative Director for the SMART Transportation Division. He is also vice president of the North Carolina State AFL-CIO. He lives in Arden, N.C.
Amtrak marked 42 years of service on May 1 with a plea for more money from Congress.
CEO Joe Boardman said Amtrak remains a “vital part” of the nation’s transportation system, but can’t continue to fulfill its “national mission” without more money from Washington.
Read the full story at The Hill.