Safety at the Workplace
My own experience as an auto mechanic for two years, working for a major retail chain, may give insight into employees’ need for an aggressive and adversarial OSHA, neither of which we have.
My employer had a safety committee--I was told. During my two years there, I never once heard about its meetings; other mechanics were also unaware there was a safety committee because they didn’t ask.
There surely were OSHA violations, the most serious of which was the routine cleaning of brakes with compressed air. Asbestos particles were blown into the air every day, exposing all shop personnel and customers. When I requested this practice be stopped, it was ONLY after I provided to shop management the actual code section that this practice ceased. After that, brake mechanics cleaned brakes with paint brushes, brushing the asbestos particles down to the floor rather than dispersing them through the air. This practice is also illegal.
One entire week, jackhammers tore up part of the shop floor during work hours. Someone--not I--complained to CAL-OSHA about the noise and dust. Mechanics had to continue to work in the next stall to the disruption, and everyone went home at night feeling ill. CAL-OSHA arrived a week later. The inspector was accompanied into the shop by the director of personnel, who stood within earshot while the inspector spoke to employees. When it was obvious that the cause of the complaint was no longer a problem, the inspector checked for other violations. To our amazement and amusement, we saw protective masks for brake mechanics and sealed containers for asbestos-laden brake shoes. These items had not been provided or used in the shop before the inspection nor were they after. The paint brushes reappeared as soon as the inspector left.
Most managers--who work in clean offices--see workers who do physical labor, which involves potential injury, as something akin to office furniture, only more troublesome. Are these foxes the appropriate guardians of the chickens?
HILMA COHN
North Hollywood
