Wyoming workers push state to examine worker safety

In recent years, many Wyoming workers have testified before state legislators about the need for a number of reforms in the workplace. After two years of lobbying, worker advocates won some moderate reforms of the state’s workers’ compensation program this year, raising some benefits for injured workers and for the families of those who get killed on the job. State lawmakers are also been pressured to clarify questions about a lack of third-party liability in the workplace that some believe serves as a disincentive toward safety.

Art Auty is one the many workers testifying before state legislators. He gives his testimony when he died on August 31, 2004 and was resuscitated immediately after his accident. He suffered severe electrical shock while attempting to remove a utility line insulator outside Lander. In Wyoming, OSHA is required to investigate a workplace accident if a worker is killed or if an accident results in at least three people going to the hospital. Auty says he didn't stay dead for long, so there was no OSHA investigation.“In my accident, there were so many OSHA violations,” Auty said. “OSHA’s not doing their job.”

Wyoming’s workplace fatality rate is the worst in the nation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 17.1 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2007. That’s about three times the national average.

Sources:
BLEIZEFFER, Dustin. "Wyo examines worker safety." Trib.com. Star-Tribune, 7 Sept. 2009. Web. 9 Sept. 2009.