Tag: OSHA

Robert Reich: Why the PRO Act is critical

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Something I’ve just learned about Amazon – one of America’s most profitable and fastest-growing corporations, headed by the richest man in the world: 

According to the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Amazon warehouse workers sustained nearly doublethe rate of serious injury incidents last year as did workers in non-Amazon warehouses.

In addition, largely because Amazon failed to provide its workers adequate protective equipment during the pandemic, the corporation admits that nearly 20,000 employees were presumed positive for the coronavirus. Continue reading.

A fox guarding the henhouse: How Trump’s labor secretary failed workers as the pandemic raged

AlterNet logoThousands of workers across America begged the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to investigate when their employers failed to take steps to protect them from COVID-19. They reported a lack of face masks, gloves, soap and hand sanitizer. They warned of having to share desks and stand right next to one another on production lines, despite the need for social distancing to slow the spread of the disease. They put their faith in OSHA and waited for the agency to come to their aid.

But help never came.

OSHA—the agency responsible for America’s workplace safety—left workers to fend for themselves during the biggest health crisis in recent history. Continue reading.

Thousands of OSHA complaints filed against companies for virus workplace safety concerns, records show

Washington Post logoEmployees told regulators about failures to follow social distancing, lack of protective gear and other issues at scores of U.S. employers

People working during the pandemic have filed thousands of complaints regarding their exposure to the novel coronavirus and a lack of safeguards at their places of employment, according to records obtained under a Freedom of Information request and reviewed by The Washington Post.

The employee complaints offer a snapshot of the fear experienced by the Americans compelled to work while the majority have been urged to stay at home, and they arise from an array of workplaces: hospitals, airlines, construction companies, call centers, grocery stores, beauty spas, pharmacies and shipping companies, among others
Collectively, the records depict the desperation of the employees as well as their frustrations with employers who in their view were at best simply unprepared for a pandemic and at worst callously unconcerned with worker safety. Continue reading.