September 3, 2010

U.S. workers rate safety standards as top priority

CHICAGO

More than eight of 10 American workers rate workplace safety first in importance among labour standards, even ahead of family and maternity leave, minimum wage, paid sick days, overtime pay and the right to join a union, according to a new study.

The study, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, draws on dozens of surveys and polls conducted from 2001 to 2010 by NORC.

This analysis sought to gain a picture of Americans’ experiences with workplace safety issues.

The study, “Public Attitudes Towards and Experiences with Workplace Safety,” was done for the Public Welfare Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., which includes a workers’ rights program.

Despite widespread public concern about workplace safety, the study also found that the media and the public tend to pay closest attention to safety issues when disastrous workplace accidents occur. Even during those tragedies, the fate of workers is often overlooked, such as during the recent oil well disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Workplace safety is too often ignored or accidents taken for granted,” said Tom W. Smith, director of NORC’s General Social Survey (GSS). “It is striking that coverage in the media and public opinion polls have virtually ignored the 11 workers killed by the blowout and destruction of the drilling platform.”

Questions instead focused on the environmental impact of the disaster and overlooked worker safety, Smith pointed out.

On Aug. 19, the U.S. Department of Labor reported in a preliminary count that the number of workers who died on the job in 2009 fell 17 per cent from the previous year, as workers clocked in for fewer hours because of the recession.

Despite a decrease in workplace fatalities, the study found that reports of workplace injuries remained high.

Although most workers say they are satisfied with safety conditions at work, they also report job-related stress, a contributing factor to injury. The most recent GSS study on job-related stress, done in 2006, reported that 13 per cent of workers find their jobs always stressful, while 21 per cent find their jobs often stressful.

“Exhaustion, dangerous working conditions and other negative experiences at work are reported by many workers,” Smith said. “Such conditions mean that workplace accidents are far from rare.”

The study done for the Public Welfare Foundation found that about 12 per cent of workers reported an on-the-job injury during the past year, and 37 percent said they have required medical treatment at one time for a workplace injury.

DCN NEWS SERVICES

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