Employee safety needs leadership commitment

To the Editor:

These two fundamental human concepts go hand and glove if any organization, either private or governmental, are going to create an injury-free workplace. If just one is absent, history has shown us that it can lead to high injury rates and costly disability claims. Strong leadership and a firm commitment to continuously improving health and safety performance, backed by action, are the foundations of a strong safety culture and community.

Some background: The County CAO and Human Resources Director recently hired a new safety officer to update the county's dangerously outof-date safety programs. But only after being confronted by citizen Public Records Act requests, which gives “the people the right of access to information concerning the conduct of governmental business,” and recent demands from CALOSHA that the county comply with current safety laws within 14 days. Is it any surprise that the county has claimed “we are exempt” from disclosing our safety compliance plans and that they have no intentions of sharing this embarrassing lack of transparency with their employees?

This is nothing more than a repeat of the TCEDA transparency lawsuit that the county lost at great expense to taxpayers and ultimately led to three county board members losing their political seats. Do as we say, not as we do?

A call out to our new elected board members. We demand more from our local government leaders. Our county employees do not need to not suffer future lost time injuries due to a lack of “employee safety and leadership commitment.” Is it too much to ask during this pandemic and local economic crises?

Ken Perkins Sonora