The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries released August 2013 reports a preliminary total of 4,383 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2012, which is down from a revised count of 4,693 fatal work injuries in 2011.
As an apprentice sheet metal worker it seemed common knowledge that you were going to get cut, electricians were going to get shocked, iron workers would fall and welders would get burned. Are we destined to have fatalities in the workforce?
I was reading a book about the construction of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and the installation of a safety net. It was called the most effective safety device to bridge building and did save many lives. It also added to the number of men falling -- because they worked with freer abandon, knowing there was a net below.
I wonder if there are safety tools used today that exemplify the law of unintended consequences. In our desire to prevent injury have we created the opposite effect?
I have a 3-part series on workplace fatalities here:
Part 1
Part 2
As an apprentice sheet metal worker it seemed common knowledge that you were going to get cut, electricians were going to get shocked, iron workers would fall and welders would get burned. Are we destined to have fatalities in the workforce?
I was reading a book about the construction of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and the installation of a safety net. It was called the most effective safety device to bridge building and did save many lives. It also added to the number of men falling -- because they worked with freer abandon, knowing there was a net below.
I wonder if there are safety tools used today that exemplify the law of unintended consequences. In our desire to prevent injury have we created the opposite effect?
I have a 3-part series on workplace fatalities here:
Part 1
Part 2
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