~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The National COSH
Workplace Health and Safety Dirty Dozen
Report
The
National Council on Occupational Safety and Health [National COSH] is
releasing a report today listing twelve
companies with poor health & safety records and severe violations. The
report details examples of the tragic consequences of workplace deaths,
injuries and illnesses for both workers and their families. It calls for
stronger enforcement actions, including criminal prosecution, to encourage
stricter compliance with health and safety standards. The release of the
report coincides with the annual Workers Memorial Day on April 28, which
marks the beginning of OSHA and remembers those workers killed, hurt or
made ill on the job.
“This
list a disgrace to all working Americans who risk their lives every day to
make a living for their families” said Emanuel Blackwell National COSH
Chairperson. This is the first list of its kind citing poor records in
health and safety protections that result in death, serious injury and
illnesses. The companies were selected because they had repeated egregious
records in health and safety. They are case studies in failed Health and
Safety programs.
The
report cites the following companies:
British Petroleum, Cintas Corp, DuPont Corp, Hayes Lemmerz
International, Honda
Motor Company of America, International Coal Group (Sago Mine), McWane, Safety
Bingo Inc, Sunesis,
UNICCO, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., W. R. Grace
With
the goal of preventing future tragedies, the report announces a new
National COSH campaign, “Stop Corporate Killers” which calls for an
overhaul of the regulatory system to prevent future tragedies.
It calls for stronger enforcement actions, including criminal prosecution,
to encourage stricter compliance with health and safety standards.
No
one knows and feels the consequences of these problems more than the
victims and their loved ones. “We need to act now to save others from
the pain and suffering these preventable tragedies bring”, said Tammy
Miser of United Support and Memorial for Workplace Fatalities [USMWF] and
sister to workplace fatality victim Shawn Boone at Hays Lemmerz.
Donald
Coit Smith, whose son was killed last year in a meatpacking fatality
states “Violations of the law, especially where death is concerned, must
carry stiff penalties to include long jail terms. ... They are, in effect,
getting away with murder”.
The
full report is available at www.Philaposh.org or [English]
and [Spanish]
.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL COSH
The
National Council for Occupational Safety and Health is a federation of
local and statewide "COSH" groups--Committees/Coalitions on
Occupational Safety and Health. COSH groups, the first of which was
founded in 1972, are private, non-profit coalitions of health and
technical professionals, labor unions, and others that work to promote
worker health and safety through education, training, and policy advocacy.
Additional Contact Information:
Peter
Dooley – Vice Chair, National COSH 734-320-5160 [c] or 734-426-3662 [o]
Amy
Kaufman, Staff, National Council Board – 919-479-0514 [o] or
919-602-7571 [c]
Tammy
Miser USMWF
Referral
List for Dirty Dozen report:
National
COSH
Peter
Dooley, Vice Chair - laborsafe@aol.com
- [734-426-3662 o 734-320-5160 c,]
Amy
Kaufman, Co-Coordinator, National COSH Network - ncosh@igc.org
[919-602-7571 c, 919479-0514 o]
See
also list of COSH groups at end of report at: www.Philaposh.org
and at http://www.coshnetwork.org/
Families
of Victims:
Tammy
Miser – Tammy’s Brother Shawn
Boone was killed in an Aluminum casting plant. Tammy co-founded a family
support group usmwf@yahoo.com
or tammy@usmwf.org –
[859-338-9145 c, 859-226-5646 o]
For
photo Go to Shawn
and Tammy and to visit
the website.
Donald
Coit Smith – The Smith’s son,
Don was killed in a meatpacking plant - coit.smith@carpenter.com
254-493-9207c See story here:
Robyn
Miller – Robyn’s brother was killed in a construction fatality
incident - robynmiller1@hotmail.com
[513-260-7061] See story here:
Mr.
and Mrs. Randel – Lost 19 year old son in manufacturing plant after
9 days on a summer job – Randelmarg@aol.com
For
stories of UNNICO workers at the University of Miami see story here:
Professional
Health and Safety Referrals
Dr
Rachel Rubin, Chair American Public Health Association OSH Section rrubin@uic.edu
Celeste
Monforton, Secretary APHA OHS Section eohcnm@gwumc.edu
202.994.0774
[o] 703.405.7577 [c]
Jordan
Barab, Founder Confined Space Blog -
jbarab@gmail.com
301-346-9410
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