Let’s make Texas a less hazardous place to work
On July 6, 2015, equipment being offloaded from a flatbed truck fatally struck 35-year-old Alton “Brad” Bargsley while he was working for C&J Well Services, a division of Houston-based C&J Energy Services Ltd. OSHA cited the company for just one serious violation. C&J Well Services paid a $6,000 penalty — a fraction of its $1.7 billion in revenue last year.
Shun Jones, 23, died from heat exhaustion last August while working on a trash collection truck in Kingwood. His temp staffing agency was under contract with corporate giant Waste Management. It was his first day on the job.
The deaths of Bargsley and Jones are just two of the nearly 100 Houston-area workers who suffered fatal work-related injuries in 2015. These tragedies could have and should have been prevented. But, in too many workplaces, hazards are not corrected, employers cut corners and workers lose their lives.
Since job safety laws like the OSH Act were passed more than four decades ago, we’ve made great progress in making workplaces safer and protecting workers.
But still, an average of 13 U.S. workers per day suffer a fatal injury. According to data released earlier this month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 4,821 workers died from traumatic injuries in 2014. Moreover, an estimated 50,000 individuals die annually from occupational illnesses, such as cancers and lung diseases caused by exposure to toxic chemicals and other health hazards.
Texas is a particularly hazardous place to work. BLS reports that 531 workers in the state were fatally injured on the job in 2014, including nearly 100 from the Houston area. The overall fatality rate in Texas is 4.5 deaths per 100,000 workers compared with 3.4 deaths for the nation as a whole. The disparity is particularly pronounced in the construction, mining and oil and gas industries.
Latino workers — particularly immigrant workers who are in the U.S. without authorization — face special danger. They work in some of the most dangerous jobs often with little or no protection, and they have a much greater risk of being killed on the job than other workers.
Temporary workers and contract workers are also at great risk as employers try to shirk responsibilities and contract out dangerous work.
Under the Obama administration, we’ve made some progress on these issues and strengthened workers’ protections and rights. The Labor Department has targeted employers who repeatedly violate the law and recently issued new rules on respirable silica dust. But there are great challenges and threats ahead.
Industry groups have filed lawsuits and turned to their friends in Congress to overturn these protections. Three candidates running for president want to roll back basic workers’ rights such as the right to join a union.
On Thursday, we commemorate Workers Memorial Day. People throughout the world will be remembering workers who were hurt or killed on the job and renewing the fight to ensure safe workplaces. Our elected officials and businesses should mark this day by launching new efforts to provide stronger safety and health protections on the job.
At the local level, government institutions should use their economic development and contracting roles to push firms to adopt stronger job safety standards. For example, the city of Houston, the Houston Independent School District and other government entities should establish a prequalification process to ensure that publicly funded construction contracts go only to firms with strong safety and quality records.
Similar requirements should be expected of businesses bidding on statefunded projects. Texans don’t want tax dollars going to firms that compromise safety by pushing production, discouraging workers from reporting safety concerns, or blaming workers for sustaining an injury. We need state policies that reward high-road employers.
It is time for lawmakers and big business to put workers first and do more to ensure that working people do not have to worry about their lives and their limbs when they go to work every single day.