Workplace Safety Panels Gone: Are Workers More at Risk of Personal Injuries?

ALEXANDRIA, Louisiana. Under Richard Nixon, five panels were created to investigate workplace health and safety standards and to improve workplace health and safety. Yet, according to ProPublica, under the Trump administration, many of these panels have been disbanded and others have not met for months.
The boards had been in the process of making recommendations many believe would have made workplaces safer. For example, the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health had been looking at ways to protect workers from getting killed by trucks when these trucks were backing up. Trucks’ rear blind spots can create a hazard for traffic and workers who happen to be behind the vehicle when it backs up. Some of the suggestions included having workers wear beepers to alert drivers when workers were behind the truck. Of course, this equipment costs money, and it may be why we are seeing some pushback from the industry.
In the shipping industry, another committee was considering limiting the toxic chemicals workers can be exposed to. Some of these chemicals are known to cause cancer.
Without these regulations in place, workplaces might not need to update cutting-edge safety standards to protect their employees from truck accidents, or from injury due to toxic chemicals. In other instances, the boards have been rendered ineffective in holding employers accountable for tracking workplace injuries, especially among undocumented individuals. This may mean that some victims may not be getting the recoveries they may deserve. Furthermore, the committees are known to rely on the most recent research available. By curtailing the power of these boards, workers aren’t being protected by the most up-to-date data about their injury risk factors.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 5,190 workers were killed on the job in 2016 alone. The OSHA reports that in 2013, there have been increasing cases where temporary workers have been killed on the job. ProPublica put together a list of committees that have gone dormant under the Trump administration. These committees are considered essential to protecting the public’s health.
If you were injured in a traffic accident involving a truck or car, or if you were hurt on the job, it is important to understand that you continue to have rights under the law. You may be entitled to seek a settlement under worker’s compensation or have the right to pursue a lawsuit against a negligent driver. The law affords injured individuals the right to seek damages for their lost wages, medical costs, and pain and suffering losses. The Jones Law Firm are personal injury lawyers in Alexandria, Louisiana who work closely with victims and families to help them seek the justice they may deserve. As industry oversight goes down, we may see more workplace injuries or injuries resulting from truck accidents going forward. If you’ve been hurt in a truck accident, workplace injury, or suffered another personal injury, contact the Jones Law Firm at https://www.hdjoneslaw.com/ to learn more about how we can help you protect your rights.