1984-11 November IBEW Journal.pdf - International Brotherhood of ...

Sf:1FETY TIPS
for you and your family
TODAY'S GREATEST HAZARD
Dlle of the greatest hazards to the
Am eri can worker today can be dum
natcd this mOllln!
Yes, many have not rccogmzcd the fact
thaI one of the greatest hazards to the
health and safelY of the u.s. wo rkers
was the eJectton of Ronald Reagan four
}'cars ago 35 prcslfJcllt of the United
States. In the latc 19605 orgamzed b oor
worked diligently to succeed In Obta lnllll\
pas5:I.gc of thl' Occupational Safet), and
Health Act (OSHA) " to assure safe ;and
healthful workmg conditIOns fo r work­
Ing men and women; by assisting and
encouraging the states in their cHon s to
assure safe nnd healthful working con
dillons; by provldll\lol for research, mformatlon,
educatIon, and nammg III the
Acid of occupati onal sllfety and health,
and for o ther purposes."
The Act, as passed by Congress and
Signed IntO law In 1970, states In ::'cctlon
S{a) that " Each employer----l l l shall furnish
[0 each of hIS employees employmcnt
Jnd a p13ee of employment whIch
arc free from recogntzed hazards that arc
cauSing or arc iLkely to cause death or
SCrt OUS phYSical harm to hIS employees"
This Act sets up provisIOns for adoption
of safety and health standards and
prOVISions for their enforcement by the
agency Enfon:cIIH:nt prOVISIOn!! spell OUt
procedures for handltng worker compl
llntS, unannounced Inspections by
OSHA, r ll,1uons ag;nnst employers for
" wilful, " "repeatcd, " "sen ous" or "other
than senous" VIOlatIOns, monet:lry fines
or penalties for such violations and re'
qUlrcments fo r abatement of such II,I.!­
lITds
In the years from 1970 through 1980,
OSHA continued to develop more and
more safety and health standards to tn11)
lement thIS law. PreS idents, 11\ appOInt ·
109 3SSlStant sccretan cs of Labor for
OSHA, picked Indl\'lduals known for
theIr background and knowledge in thIS
field As e:'t3 mples, President Ford app€)Intcd
Dr Monon Com and Presldrnl
Carler appolllled Dr Eula BlIlghall\ 10
thiS Import:lIlt POSt. These indiViduals
....'erc well known for their professIOnal
3blilty and experllse In the Held of silfety
:lnd he3hh.
Dunng the 1980 election eamp1ugn,
ROl\olld Reagan stoted that he belteved
there wos " no need fo r OSHA," For Ihe
16 I ISEW JOURNAL I NOVEMBER 1984
fi rs! 41 motHhs of hiS admll1lSUaliOll,
that phtlosophy has been IInplemerlted
by many aCllons.
Wtthm days of taking office. all regu
lal10ns m process were frozen. B)' Execullve
O rder. the Office of Management
and Budget, a pan of the E.xcruuve Branch
of goVe nlmClll, ...... dS JnOllltcd chIef fegulator,
establtshlllg regulatory pnOTIIleS
olnd acung as the gatekeeper of agency
frgul:uory actions. All work at OS HA
was stopped. Many standards and prae·
IIce5 that had becn adopted 1Il the months
pnor to thIS were blocked and ell her
cance ll ed, postponed or weakem::d The
n ght of an employee representallve to
walk around With the OS HA Inspector
without loss of pay wa .. cancelled. Rulemaking
on new Standards for asbestos.
benzene, cadlum, chromates and Illc kcl
was aba ndoned. Instead the pnonlles
became a program of wea kemng eXISlmg
standllTds on lead, eotlon dust, heanng
conservation, cancer poltcy and access
to employee medical records
Fortunately, the Supreme Court upSet
their plans on cotton dust and lead by
upholdmg the cXI"l lng standards. In more
than three years, a ni)' one permanent
standard has been Issued for a toXIC
subslance, ethylene OX ide, and thaI came
under a court order The ani), other final
health standard Issued, the 1983 Hazard
CommunICatiOns Sland:lrd regarding
chemical hazard IIlformalion ,'xrllldcd
75 pe rcent of the workforce and was
primarily ilHended to preempt stmn~er
stale " Tlght-ta·know" laws
Instead of appolllUll/o; a person knowledgeable
conceming safety and health to
head thIS Important agency, PreSident
Reagan appolilted Thome Auchter, ..
eonstrucuon company executive fro m
FlOrida who had been actI ve In Reagan's
c:amp3lgn III Flonda Auchter appolntcd
some speCIa l aSSIstants who also h3d no
expeTl cnce III safety and health, but ....·ho
also had been acttve III the Reagan cam
pal,.:n
The Occupational Safet y and Heal th
ReView COIlUniSSlOn, sct up to rule O il
3ppcals to OSHA Clt:ltIU1I5, had ol~ eh::m
man a Repuhltcan who, while not alw3ys
:Igreelllg with I3OOr, h:ld 0 bac kground of
w nr t'rn for safety and health as II representative
of a large steel finn :lnd at -
tempted 10 wnte faIT deCISIons. When
hi " lime came lor re3ppOuttment, Reagan J
kicked him out and appolllted Roben A
Rowland, a Texas tax attorney, whose
sale qualtficallon seems to be that he
was vIce chaumall of Reagan 's Texas
campaign In his first twO years on the
Commission, he served with two of Pres­
Ident Carter'S appointees. In that penod
of time, Rowland, In ruling on appeals
of OSHA citations and fine~ for Viola·
lions of the Act, vuleJ ag.1ln~t OSHA III
83 percenl of the cases heard. Fortunately,
Ihe o ther twO comml)5 10ners dlslIgreed
and supported OSHA III 72 percent
of the cases. Late last year Commissioner
Cottllle's term expired; and Reaga n appOInted
E. Ross Buc kley, a former attorney
lor Gulf UII Company, as hI S replacement.
SlI\ce that lime Rowland upheld
OSHA only once, and In that case downgraded
the cltallon and penalty In the
other three cases where OS HA was upheld,
Rowland dlssenled. In the other
cases heard, Rowland and Buckley ruled J
3gamst OSHA
I
Earher thIS yeal Auchter re)lgned to
become the head of a conStructiOIl company
In Kansas City. The I'le)5 reported
that In 198 1 Auchter had directed OSHA
to drop sen ous Cita tIOns and over S 12,000
In proposed fint''> :lgolIl1SI thiS company.
Reagan, as soon as Congress recessed •
for a poli tical convention, made a " recess
aPPOintment" {thereb}' aVOiding the ne·
cesslty of Senate approv31 until after the
electlon) of Robert A. Rowl:tnd to SliC·
ceed Auchter. The man who h3s cantin·
ually voted against holJIU,!; cmploycrs
responsible for safety and health IS now
the head of OSHA!
It I) 1\0 wonder Ihat the number of
actual inspections, the number of clla·
tlons and the amount of penaltIes fpven
fo r vIOla lions have all been droPPll1g
drastically the last four years
To allow the I:lw to work to protect ...
workers' safety and health, our most
Important move today IS to defeal Ronald
Reagan thiS mo nth so thnt one who has
always supported the OSHA program,
Walter Mondale, Colli :tppolnt peopk to
head thiS agency who be lieve III enforclllg
the law and requITIng employers to pro· ~ .
VIde every worker 11 safe and hea lthful
workplilce