OSHA Chief Says Workplace Deaths are Rarely Accidental

According to Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) David Michaels, workplace fatalities are rarely accidental.

An estimated 14,000 workers lost their lives on the job each year before OSHA was created. While these numbers have declined to just over 100 fatalities per year, officials want to push it even further down to zero. But in a recent opinion piece, OSHA's David Micheals reveals that most workplace fatalities are not accidental.

In the piece, Micheals cites the deadly Deepwater Horizon incident in which 11 workers lost their lives, saying it's a "clear example of how poor choices by an employer can lead to tragedy." Michaels further says that "“no minor financial savings could have justified decision made by the company," and the explosion and oil spill may have cost BP upwards of $60 billion in the long run.

It's important to note that OSHA didn't have jurisdiction over the Deepwater Horizon rig. OSHA has jurisdiction and authority to enforce safety laws throughout the United States, but being that the rig was located some 40 miles off shore, it was outside of the agency's reach. As such, it wasn't required to comply with federal workplace safety laws, which may have contributed to the deadly explosion in which nearly a dozen rig workers lost their lives.

Micheals goes beyond the case study involving the Deepwater Horizon explosion, however. He says that saving limbs and lives isn't difficult, nor is it complicated. It does, however, require a commitment on behalf of the employer. If the employer isn't committed to protecting workers' from serious injury, workers will have a greater risk of succumbing to amputations and other serious injuries that require hospitalization and/or immediate medical attention.

So, what steps can you take to protect against serious and potentially fatal accidentals in your workplace? You can check out some of our previous blog posts for tips on improving workplace safety, although here are a few essential points:

• Conduct routine safety inspections
• Encourage workers to report all safety hazards, injuries and other associated incidents
• Use lockout tags when machines are being serviced
• Implement an ongoing training program in which workers receive follow-up training for their respective jobs
• Ensure all workers are given the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE), which is a requirement by OSHA
• Clean spilled liquids in a timely manner
• Require workers to take regular breaks