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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2011)
April 15, 2011:NWLP 4/12/11 10:17 AM Page 3 Oregon-OSHA Enforcement Activity for Calendar Years 2000-2010 INSPECTIONS VIOLATIONS & PENALTIES ASSESSED Safety Health Total 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 4,399 4,823 4,730 4,460 4,288 4,091 4,090 4,163 4,332 4,577 4,231 680 848 793 821 816 738 900 898 952 934 974 5,386 5,671 5,523 5,281 5,104 4,829 4,990 5,061 5,284 5,511 5,205 Employers % In Compliance Covered 166,158 199,891 199,160 210,171 228,067 268,095 370,162 239,951 208,002 190,769 135,575 24.3 24.8 23.9 23.0 24.9 22.2 26.8 24.9 23.9 24.2 28.6 No. 4,080 4,757 4,312 4,222 4,181 4,334 4,058 4,169 4,649 4,865 3,946 $ Penalty $1,498,274 $1,540,605 $1,522,055 $1,596,322 $1,477,010 $1,386,025 $1,395,290 $1,519,665 $1,703,088 $1,782,718 $1,192,835 Willful Repeat Serious Year of Inspection No. 244 258 203 219 213 231 263 278 227 172 135 $ Penalty $460,450 $396,630 $303,390 $475,130 $383,555 $458,900 $759,050 $666,800 $500,675 $393,030 $382,100 No. $ Penalty 4 2 2 0 2 2 0 2 2 10 2 Other No. $130,000 $45,000 $100,000 $0 $120,000 $140,000 0 $30,000 $50,000 $700,000 $30,000 6,464 8,440 7,292 7,177 7,142 6,205 5,663 5,695 5,723 6,453 6,097 $ Penalty $175,110 $288,845 $252,785 $251,025 $192,815 $178,165 $228,645 $234,725 $203,695 $77,370 $36,570 Citations Issued 3,933 4,093 4,034 3,893 3,832 3,755 3,653 3,801 4,021 4,177 3,714 Each set of grouped violations was counted as one violation. All penalties associated with group violations were included. Penalties shown are initial penalties assessed and do not re- flect reductions made after the original citation was issued. Note: data are tallied by open date of inspection. Data will change as updated. Inspection and citation counts do not include orders to correct done prior to Oct. 1, 2002. Modified December 2004 to include followup and monitoring inspections when calculating percent in compliance and counting citations. Source: Information Management Division, Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, March 31, 2010 Work-related fatalities drop in Oregon, spike in Washington Washington was a much more dan- gerous place to work than Oregon last year, according to job-related fatality statistics released by both states. APRIL 15, 2011 Seventeen workers were killed on the job in Oregon in 2010, according to the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OR-OSHA), compared to 86 workers in Washing- ton, according to the Fatality Assess- ment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program at the Washington State De- NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS partment of Labor and Industries. Oregon fatalities are down 31 from the previous year, while Washington’s are up by 21. Factors that contributed to the increase were an explosion that took the lives of seven refinery workers and a series of plane crashes that took seven more workers’ lives. In Oregon, it should be noted that only fatalities accepted by the state’s workers’compensation system were in- cluded in OR-OSHA’s report. Excluded were city of Portland police and fire employees, federal employees, self-em- ployed, and those who worked in Ore- gon for an out-of-state employer. When counting those, the number of fa- talities in 2010 is 27. Another dozen died from heart attacks while at work. Data on all deaths caused by injuries in Oregon workplaces — regardless of whether they are covered by workers’ compensation insurance — are com- puted separately and reported in the an- nual Census of Fatal Occupational In- juries (CFOI) administered by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The 2010 CFOI report won’t be re- leased until this fall. Its most recent data for 2009 reports 66 work-related deaths in Oregon. [The Northwest Labor Press’annual Workers Memorial Day edition lists the names of all workers that it knows of who died while at work. Last year’s list for 2009 fatalities included 58 names.] Trucking, logging and manufactur- ing industries saw the largest concen- tration of deaths last year in Oregon (11), while in Washington machine-re- lated incidents were the number one cause of fatalities (19). There were no compensable con- struction deaths in Oregon 2010 — a significant improvement from 12 fatal- ities as recently as 2007. “One of the reasons for the decrease in workplace fatalities is certainly the impact of the economy, particularly on those higher-risk sectors such as manu- facturing, construction, or logging,” OR-OSHA Administrator Michael Wood wrote in the agency’s newsletter. Last year in Washington, 18 work- ers were killed in motor vehicle inci- dents; nine were struck by falling ob- jects; seven died by explosion; seven died in falls; four by homicide; two by electrocution; and one due to an injury caused by an animal. State ombudsman will assist injured workers SALEM — The Ombudsman for Injured Workers is a state office that serves as an independent advocate for injured workers by helping them un- derstand their rights and responsibili- ties, investigating complaints, and as- sisting to resolve complaints. The ombudsman’s staff gives straight an- swers, at no charge, about worker rights and responsibilities; time loss and med- ical benefits; returning to work; claim closure; and litigation and settlement processes. If you need assistance with a ques- tion or concern regarding your work- ers’ compensation claim, call toll-free at 800-927-1271, or 503-378-3351, or go to their web site at www.oregon.gov/ DCBS/OIW. PAGE 3
