September 30, 1994 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 27105 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS THE OSHA PLAGUE Imperial Food Products chicken processing worker." While Al Gore's "Reinventing Gov­ plant in Hamlet, NC, that killed 25 employees ernment" report recommends that OSHA pri­ HON. JOEL HEFLEY and injured an additional 55. vatize its inspection duties to increase effi­ The owner of Imperial Food is currently ciency. OF COLORADO serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter. Even pro-OSHA rhetoric is strained. Labor IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES He's bankrupt and is facing millions in cor­ Secretary Robert Reich recently patted the Friday, September 30, 1994 porate lawsuits. Meanwhile, $16 million in agency on the head by saying, "According to Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, here is the lead worker's compensation has been distributed to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fatality rates from an article in The Chieftain, the leading the victims and their survivors. have declined since 1971." newspaper in Pueblo, CO: In trying the owner, the prosecutor chose Talk about damning somebody with faint Pueblo's construction boom came to a halt not to use OSHA's criminal penalties because praise. Yes, death rates have been falling this week but not because of the weather, they were too "weak." The State man­ since 1971-they've been falling since 1934- economic, or labor problems. What shut slaughter was chosen instead. and they fell faster before OSHA than they did down many of the new home-building And OSHA itself is being sued by the survi­ after. That's not a recommendation, though, projects in the city and county was word vors urider North Carolina law. Before the fire, and Mr. Reich didn't mention it. that the Occupational Safety and Health Ad­ OSHA ignored a series of red flags raised by As this dearth of praise indicates, there is *. ministration was in town * * One stucco previous contacts with the owners of the Impe­ no way to measure OSHA success in saving contractor said he visited a number of sites rial Food plant and allowed the dangerous in the city and in Pueblo West and found no worker's lives. Nevertheless, a little common one working. " It was like a plague," he said, conditions at the plant to continue. sense will show that even if OSHA were effec­ " really spooky." According to the Education and Labor Com­ tive in preventing deaths, its prospects are lim­ mittee, "Those who administer the Occupa­ ited. The OSHA plague. Employers across the tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 share the WHAT'S THE FRONTIER? country are protesting the activities of the Oc­ blame; they failed utterly to protect the work­ Let's say that OSHA was 100 percent effec­ cupational Safety and Health Administration. ers at Imperial Food." The Federal govern­ tive at ending preventable workplace deaths. They believe OSHA's increased activity is driv­ ment set itself up as the big "Safety Sheriff" How many lives could it save? en by revenues rather than safety and they in town, and now it's being sued for talking too According to the Department of Labor's are asking Congress to review the administra­ loud. tion. On top of this landslide, OSHA has imposed Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, there Last spring, the House Labor Committee $800,000 in fines which it will never collect. were 6,083 workplace deaths in 1992. moved in the opposite direction and adopted a The Imperial Food tragedy is a perfect illus­ Of those deaths, 2,441 were caused by bill seeking to dramatically expand the jurisdic­ tration of the fallacy of OSHA. OSHA failed to transportation accidents, including highway, tion of OSHA at a price tag to the American take action at a time when it might have done farm, aircraft, and other transportation deaths. economy of $20 to $60 billion dollars. some good, and it piled on when its actions Another 1,216 deaths were the result of homi­ Fortunately for the economy, the Ford bill is had little impact. cides and suicides. Finally, 76 workers died by dead. The House is unlikely to bring it up be­ As an OSHA official from North Carolina drowning. Unless OSHA teaches employees fore, we adjourn and similar legislation is pointed out, the whole purpose of OSHA is to how to drive, fly, swim, and cope better, it's stalled in the Senate. Unfortunately, the Labor prevent this type of tragedy from happening. not going to have any impact on these deaths. Department has elected to move forward with But somewhere along the way, OSHA's mis­ Then there is the presence of drug and al­ the more costly items in the bill. sion of prevention took a backseat to its en­ cohol abuse. Random drug testing has proven Before the President does administratively forcement activities. In the process, safety has to reduce drug-related deaths, but OSHA what couldn't be accomplished democratically, suffered. doesn't supervise these programs. Employee recklessness is another hurdle. I believe it's time Congress had a real debate OSHA'S SAFETY RECORD You can train some people all you want, they on OSHA. Does OSHA promote worker safety, The first thing I noticed regarding OSHA's are still going to go out and endanger them­ or does it just raise money for Uncle Sam? safety record is that nobody defends it. With that in mind, I am introducing legisla­ There's lots of lip-service to the concept of selves and others. tion which would provide the first real reform OSHA, to the good intentions of its authors Finally, you have the self-employed. OSHA of OSHA in 24 years. This bill would promote and the number of inspections and fines it im­ rules may apply to a self-employed person, but if they are not willing to protect their own worker safety by emphasizing cooperation and poses on employers. But I have yet to hear health, why would they respond to OSHA? education between OSHA and employers. anyone say "OSHA works." My bill, No. 1, repeals OSHA's authority to To the contrary, trashing OSHA's record is That leaves a generous guess of 1,500 inspect, investigate, and issue citations re­ not just the sport of the construction industry deaths each year that OSHA could prevent, if garding workplace safety, No. 2, require of my district. Even OSHA supporters recog­ it worked perfectly. To put that in perspective, OSHA's health and safety standards to con­ nize the prudence of distancing themselves Congress could prevent more deaths each sider economic effects; No. 3, creates a small from the agency's record. year just by abandoning current CAFE stand­ business consulting program; and No. 4, clari­ During markup of his very pro-OSHA reform ards. fies that employee participation committees legislation, WILLIAM FORD, chairman of the As Imperial Chicken demonstrates, OSHA are not labor organizations under the National House Education and Labor Committee, isn't anywhere near 100 percent effective. Labor Relations Act or the Railway Labor Act. scoffed that the average business could ex­ INJURY RATES The debate surrounding OSHA has been pect a visit from OSHA "once every 87 years." The other measure of OSHA's effectiveness misdirected. Instead of debating how to ex­ Earlier in the meeting, he listed the growth is workplace injury rates. Again, there's no pand OSHA's mission, we should debate the of workplace injuries and continued presence credible measure of how effective OSHA has mission itself. After 24 years and billions of of workplace deaths and stated, "More than been at making the workplace injury free. In­ dollars invested, it's time to ask OSHA for an 20 years after OSHA, these figures are totally jury rates fluctuate with innumerable variables, honest accounting. unacceptable." and it is impossible to isolate the impact of IMPERIAL FOOD The AFL-CIO complains that "The Occupa­ OSHA. So instead of citing success, OSHA Let me give you an example of what is tional Safety and Health Act has not lived up proponent instead emphasize the problem. As wrong. We have all heard about the fire at the to its promise of a safe job for every American you might expect, it's getting worse. e This "bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. 27106 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS September 30, 1994 In the markup of his reform legislation, WIL­ OSHA responded to Congress' mandate Which has a bigger impact? LIAM FORD noted that American workers suffer with gusto. In October 1992, Builder magazine OSHA'S COSTS 3.3 million injuries every year. Not 10 minutes noted: On the other hand, OSHA's costs are much later, Representative MATIHEW MARTINEZ OSHA's 1,200 inspectors are making fewer greater than just adding the cost of operating claimed that 6.3 million workplace injuries oc­ visits to housing sites than they did during the administration with the amount of penalties curred every year. Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO the last housing boom, but their inspections it assesses. claims that 7 million workers are killed, injured, are more thorough and more likely to result First, there's the compliance cost to employ­ in fines. OSHA fines against builders have or made sick on the job each year. ers. How many millions of hours do American In Secretary Reich's earlier testimony before soared from $29,000 a month in fiscal year 1987 to $114,163 a month in fiscal year 1991.