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Older, larger companies benefit from not investing in worker safety, study finds:
When it's cheaper to pay nominal fines for violating workplace regulations than to provide safe workplaces, that indicates current safety regulations are not enough to protect workers, researchers say.
Oregon State University Public Health and Human Sciences associate professor Anthony Veltri was one of several authors on the study, an international collaboration between Mark Pagell, Mary Parkinson, Michalis Louis and Brian Fynes of University College Dublin in Ireland; John Gray of the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio; and Frank Wiengarten of Universitat Ramon Llull in Spain.
"Organizations that do not provide a safe workplace gain an economic advantage over those that do," said Veltri, who studies occupational safety and health. "The goal of improving the longevity of a business conflicts with the goal of protecting the workforce."
The study, published last week in the journal Management Science, looked at both short- and long-term survival of more than 100,000 Oregon-based organizations over a 25-year period. In this study, "survival" was defined as ongoing operations, even in the face of an ownership change.
[...] Although there are businesses that provide safe workplaces and also improve their competitiveness, such businesses are not the norm, the study says. And while organizations seeking to maximize their survival are unlikely to harm workers on purpose, they are correct in calculating that the costs of preventing all harm to workers is higher than the cost of not doing so.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by shipofgold on Thursday May 14 2020, @06:50PM (4 children)
My favorite OSHA story. A university theater with a descending pit in front of the stage for the orchestra. Resulted in an 8 foot drop at the front of the stage and the initial OSHA inspection required a railing going across the front of the stage.....
My question has always been how many of the insane OSHA rules came about because some nitwit did exactly what the rule is attempting to prevent. Most of these rules don't come about in a vacuum.
The biggest issue in America is Idiots doing something stupid and then trying to sue somebody else because of their lunacy. If people were to be required to have some 'common sense' and take responsibility for their own actions I think we would be better off.
But there is always that one self-important boss who demands someone else to do something stupid. Unfortunately darwin doesn't take care of those guys.
(Score: 2) by lentilla on Friday May 15 2020, @02:16AM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2020, @04:50AM
Stupid falling idiots shouldn't be allowed on stage. MAKE THAT A NEW RULE!
(Score: 2) by turgid on Friday May 15 2020, @08:37PM
Everything is money in America. Everywhere you go you are highly encouraged to part with it at every opportunity. America has a very poor social security safety net. Look at all the poor old people forced to work when they should be retired. Look at the extortionate medial bills and the rip-off health insurance "market."
In America, hitting the jackpot is very important. You can finally afford that operation. You can pay off the mortgage. You can retire. People are so desperate, they'll do anything for money, especially if they can make a fast buck by suing someone.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 16 2020, @06:51AM
OSHA doesn't require railings for theatrical fall protection. You are fully compliant using a combination of rated pit nets with scrim, strip lighting, and ghost lights.