Suggested Read: Focus on Worker Safety- "The worst one-day construction tragedy in Toronto since 1960"

"Focus on Worker Safety" is an article posted by thestar.com. Although the website is Canadian, it can be applied to the construction industry in the United States.

The article uses the example of a recent scaffolding accident that occurred on Christmas Eve and claimed the lives of four workers. The fifth worker was taking to the hospital in a critical condition with extensive head injuries. Toronto News states that the five construction workers were perched on an elevated scaffolding fixing several balconies of a residential high rise. They were 13 stories off the ground when the structure collapsed. There are conflicting reports on whether the workers were wearing safety equipment at the time of the fall. Construction industry officials are calling the accident the worst one-day construction tragedy in Toronto since 1960. The workers were employed by a contracting company and had been working most of the day on the south side of the 18-storey building, reinforcing and repairing balconies (thestar.com). Residents say they were preparing to go home when the scaffolding collapsed.

Thestar.com states that a provincial safety inspector had just given the contractor a clean bill of health and, just one week later, the four workers fell off the scaffolding to their deaths in an accident that clearly showed safety regulations were being ignored. "That suggests our workplace protection system is in need of a review." The article also states,"We need to examine the underground economy because even the best-intentioned laws won't protect workers employed by businesses that operate outside the legal framework." Qualifications of safety inspectors is another topic that the article discusses. Both safety inspectors and safety managers should be qualified and looked as important assets to companies. Many tend to underestimate this position and few recognize their value. It's important that business also do their part in enforcing worker safety laws.

The short article brings up a very good point. It states, "There has been speculation that some of the workers who died in the scaffolding accident were working illegally in Canada. But it is not just illegal workers who are vulnerable to unsafe working conditions; any worker who desperately needs his $20an hour job is not likely to speak up and risk losing it." Any worker, regardless of their social or financial standing, can be intimidated to ask for better working conditions or refuse to work due to unsafe conditions. This is more likely to happen now in our current economy. Many fear that by asking for safe(er) working conditions or refusing to work due to unsafe conditions they're risking their job.

To read the full article from thestar.com click http://bit.ly/95bJK4

Sources:
Aulakh, Reveena. "4 migrant workers die in plunge from highrise." Thestar.com. 25Dec. 2009. Web. 29 Jan. 2010.
"Focus on Worker Safety." Thestar.com. 29 Jan. 2010. Web.
"Investigators probe Christmas Eve work accident." Ctv.ca. 25 Dec. 2009. Web. 29 Jan. 2010.