Lawmakers Slam Elaine’s OSHA
Appalled by reports of widespread injuries and neglect in the poultry industry, members of a Senate subcommittee yesterday cited OSHA’s repeated failures in protecting workers and preventing on-the-job injuries.
Subcommittee Chair Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) pointed out what we already know - under Elaine’s watch, the Labor Department has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to worker safety:
“I am very concerned because the evidence shows that in the last seven years, OSHA has been dangerously ineffective.”
In a written statement, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee illustrated some of the main problems with OSHA’s neglect of Carolina poultry workers:
“Poultry workers’ health and safety is threatened every day in a variety of ways. Their hands are crippled by hours on the assembly line that moves too fast. They are forced to work when they are sick or seriously hurt. Yet OSHA sits on the sidelines, ignoring such problems.”
Why such harsh criticism of OSHA? According to the Charlotte Observer, fines for serious violations that can lead to death and severe injuries are usually reduced in half to average only $1,100. But despite well-documented stories of worker injuries, fatalities and other outrages, the poultry lobby thinks the status quo is working just fine:
“The facts demonstrate we have a good record, that worker safety is a very important value in the industry, that we are concerned for our associates and employees,” said Richard Lobb of the National Chicken Council who refused to testify at the hearing.
A good record? Tell that to the Smithfield plant employee in North Carolina whose arm was amputated on Sunday by a conveyer belt. The company was cited for safety and health violations as recent as 2005, but with slap-on-the-wrist OSHA fines, it’s no wonder accidents like this continue to happen throughout America.
