by brettb on August 20, 2010
As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle and AP, workplace safety and injury rules got a boost recently when California safety officials voted unanimously on Thursday to approve new rules.
Number of Fatal Work Injuries 1992-2006
The new workplace safety rules are aimed at strengthening and clarifying protections for individuals who work outside.
These new rules and the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s decision creates special precautions and protections applicable to construction sites and other fields that apply when the temperature reaches 95 degrees.
These new “high-heat” workplace safety rules only apply to agriculture, landscaping, construction, oil and gas and transportation workers.
The new rules are welcome as they were needed; since 2005, there have been 28 heat related deaths of outside workers – 12 of which were in agriculture.
by brettb on August 14, 2010
As reported by the New York Times and others, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced that BP will pay a record fine – $50.6 million – for failing to fix safety violations after the disastrous workplace injury accident in its Texas City refinery in 2005.
BP's American headquarters in Houston
According to media reports, BP is also working with the federal government to settle charges of even more workplace safety rule violations, which could result in the company paying another $30 million in fines.
These fines are unrelated to the Deepwater Horizon explosion that injured numerous workers and killed 11. However, the swift and intense action on the part of the federal government is seen by many as a crackdown on the perceived attitude at BP of placing profits in front of safety.
At the same time that the federal government is going after BP for events unrelated to the Gulf oil spill, states and personal injury attorneys are going after BP on behalf of injury victims related to the spill.
The State of Alabama, for instance, has filed a lawsuit against BP over the Gulf oil spill and damages it suffered as a result. The lawsuit, according to Alabama officials, grows out of frustration with BP for saying one thing and doing another. It seeks economic and punitive damages.
Nevertheless, despite this atmosphere of legal action against BP and the clarity in which their corporate culture and lack of emphasis on safety has come into view, the New York Times also reports that given the current political environment passing oil spill legislation raising the liability cap for oil companies may be difficult.
Meanwhile, personal injury attorneys are praising the decision to consolidate injury suits against BP and other companies related to the Gulf spill in New Orleans. We have addressed that issue here on San Francisco Injury Law Answers recently – see BP Injury Lawsuits.
by brettb on July 7, 2010
In 2008, on the day after Thanksgiving, shoppers trampled to death a Wal-Mart employee. It was a workplace injury disaster in which OSHA and federal safety regulators investigated the accident and fined Wal-Mart $7,000.
Wal-Mart in California
Since then, Wal-Mart has spent over $1 million to fight the fine and findings of the federal regulators. The company’s battle against what many would consider a tiny amount given that an employee lost his life in the accident seems out of place and even difficult to understand.
According to the New York Times, the company believes the findings by OSHA and citation could have far-reaching impact on the retail industry.
But what many critics see is a company that gives lip service to taking responsibility for the injuries but in the end, one that will do every thing possible to fight and deny responsibility.
by brettb on June 25, 2010
When you have the world’s worst workplace injury disaster, which also happens to be the worst environmental and economic disaster in U.S. history, it makes little sense to argue for the end of workplace injury and safety standards.
Critics of the Jones Act assert that it should be waived or repealed in light of the BP Gulf oil spill. The Washington Post editorial today asserts this much and more – that maybe the Jones Act has outlived its usefulness. The Post and other critics of this act are simply wrong and foolish.
Protestors in New Orleans after the BP spill
The Jones Act makes it easier for injured workers at sea and on ships to receive compensation for injuries and medical care when they suffer a workplace injury up to three miles off the coast of the U.S. And to their credit the Post admits that because of the three mile limitation in the Act it would have no effect on most of the ships engaged in the cleanup.
But the Jones Act is only one part of a series of laws that are in place to make sure that oil rigs, ships, and other vessels are safe places for people to work. BP’s arrogance in the face of these laws and willingness to ignore even its own safety rules and regulations led to the disaster that we now face in the Gulf of Mexico.
Eleven wrongful deaths, dozens of personal injuries, unmeasurable economic injuries, environmental devastation of one of the most important natural regions in the world, and one suicide are the results, so far, of BP’s actions.
It is mind-boggling to to try and understand how ignoring part of the safety rules and regulations that were ignored which lead to this situation will help get us out of this situation.
The Post states without evidence or support that the Jones Act “…increases the price of goods and services to American consumers.” This statement completely ignores who pays for the injuries and medical care of injured workers if the Jones Act is not in place. This argument is no more rational than saying that seat belts, air bags, safety standards, and child labor laws also increase the costs of those goods to consumers. And it is also just as wrong.
The Jones Act protects workers; now more than ever workers need more protection not less, in the Gulf of Mexico and everywhere.
