Congress Looks at Workers' Safety
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Printable FormatCharlotte Observer by AMES ALEXANDER
For months, workplace safety officials in North Carolina and about two dozen other states have complained that the federal government is shortchanging them.
Now they're beginning to get the attention of congressional leaders who vow to push for more federal money to states that run their own workplace safety programs.
Safety experts contend that workers are suffering preventable injuries and deaths because of lax government oversight and inadequate funding.
Members of Congress recently have focused on whether OSHA agencies have the tools to do their jobs effectively after an Observer series documented hazards in the poultry industry and failures of regulators to police problems.
Twenty-four states, including the Carolinas, operate their own workplace safety programs, while the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration oversees safety in the remaining states.
Federal funding for the state-run OSHA programs has lagged far behind inflation, rising only about 1 percent since 2001. The remaining states have fared somewhat better; federal OSHA's budget has increased about 14 percent since 2001, but that hasn't kept pace with inflation either.
N.C. OSHA has frozen 12 positions -- seven of them safety and health inspectors -- so that it has enough money to continue operations this year, said Kevin Beauregard, assistant deputy commissioner of the state Labor Department.
"It's going to mean we do less activity," he said. "There's no way around that. It'll mean 500 less places we'll get to."
Across the nation, OSHA staffing is so thin that about one of every 90 work sites gets inspected each year. N.C. OSHA, while better staffed than most of its counterparts, visited about one of every 45 workplaces in 2006.
N.C. Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry, a Republican seeking re-election, said that if the state received more federal money, her first priority would be to fill the frozen positions.
Next, she said, she'd want to expand partnerships with businesses, along with education and training for workers and employers. In one cooperative program, companies bring in OSHA consultants and don't face fines for any violations found.
Four Democrats will face off in the May 6 primary for labor commissioner. One of them -- Cary lawyer Robin Anderson -- has said the state should use any additional money for more safety inspectors and more in-depth investigations to protect workers.
The federal government is sending about $89.5 million to state OSHA agencies for enforcement this year -- about 2 percent less than it provided last year.
Nationally, more than 80 OSHA positions at 14 state agencies are vacant because of funding constraints, according to a survey by an association that represents those agencies.
After a Senate subcommittee hearing this month prompted by the Observer series, member Barack Obama issued a statement calling for changes including more funding and inspectors so that OSHA can reach "more of the most dangerous workplaces."
U.S. Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat who chairs the House labor committee, said he'll push to get more money to the state programs.
"Unfortunately, we have seen the results in deaths and countless injuries in North Carolina and across the country when workplace safety agencies are starved for funds," Miller said in an e-mail. "... It is urgent that we provide the necessary resources to ensure that workers come home safely at the end of their shifts."
Congress hammers out OSHA's budget each year, with input from federal OSHA and the president. The states play no role in the process. Leaders of state OSHA programs say few in Congress are aware of the inequities. They've tried to change that recently by sending letters to lawmakers and meeting with congressional staffers.
Whether the federal government will send more money to the states is unclear. President Bush proposes giving them $91.1 million in 2009 -- the same as 2007, and about 2 percent more than this year.
Congressional staffers say they don't expect the Bush administration to compromise on that budget, but Democrats say it's likely Congress will wait until a new president is inaugurated before approving the 2009 budget.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who chairs the Senate's workplace safety subcommittee, said she has tried in past years to get more money to state OSHA programs including Washington and the Carolinas -- but to no avail. She plans to continue her efforts, she said. "We've got to hold their feet to the fire and get the money out to states like ours," Murray told the Observer.
When Congress established federal OSHA in 1970, it encouraged states to run their own programs. States that choose to do that must prove their safety standards are as effective as the federal government's, and they must provide at least half of operating costs.
In 1990, federal money covered nearly half of N.C. OSHA's enforcement costs. Now it pays about a third -- just over $5 million a year.
North Carolina significantly expanded its OSHA program in the early 1990s, after a fire at a chicken processing plant in Hamlet killed 25 workers. While North Carolina still has more inspectors than most states, its scrutiny of poultry processors has fallen sharply during the past decade. The number of poultry plant inspections dropped from 25 in 1997 to six last year.
State OSHA leaders say poultry plants don't need as much attention these days because injury rates have fallen. But the Observer found that the official injury rates aren't accurate because many injuries aren't reported.
S.C. OSHA has seen its federal funding decline about 9 percent since 2001. That hasn't affected staffing so far. But in Michigan, a funding shortfall has left the program with about 24 vacant positions.
Some congressional members -- including David Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat who serves on the House Appropriations Committee -- say they will push for more federal funding if states like the Carolinas make a convincing case for it.