제 목 : Lost Work-Time Injuries Drop Again
일 자 : 1997년 09월
제공처 : Safety + health(OSHA Update)
Injury and illness cases leading to days away from work fell to 250 for
each lO,OOO workers in l955 from 277 in 1994,286 in l993 and 305 in l992,
the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
But serious hazards remain. Labor Secretary AIexis Herman highlighted
carpal tunnel syndrome and overexertion due to lifting by workers
in nursing homes as special problems for women.
Men in l995 were more likely than women to suffer hernias, amputatrons
and fractures, the bureau said. But women in l995 accounted for 70
percent of lost work-time cases involving carpal tunnel syndrome.
More women sustaned the wrist-crippling injury by operating machinery
on assembly lines or by ten Jing rerail stores than by typing or doing
other of office work.
Representatives for employer groups say these reports show a reduced
loss of work time Jue to injuries and illnesses even as OSHA enforcement
eased under congressional budget constraints and a Clinton
administration policy change. "Finally, OSHA is staying out of the
workplace so employers can devote some time to safety," Susan
Nussbaum, counsel for the Labor Policy Association, a large-employer
group, says.
But Eric Frumin, health and safety director for the Union of
Needle Trades, Industrial anJ Textile Employees, or UNITE, says l995
was too early to show any effects of the reduced OSHA enforcement
during the last three years. Besides, OSHA's attention to "bad-actor"
employers hasn't eased, Frumin says.
"The threat of serious OSHA enforcement activity has never abated."
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