![]() ![]() They also maintain that injury figures are not accurate because OSHA in 1981 created a powerful incentive for employers to under-report. Critics, principally labor unions and consumer advocates, charge that the administration's emphasis on voluntary compliance amounts to regulatory abdication and has weakened worker protections. In contrast to aggressive regulatory efforts during the Carter years, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) now emphasizes counseling employers rather than penalizing them for violations. The Reagan administration claims that the data demonstrate the effectiveness of its “non-adversary” approach to regulating workplace hazards. The cause of the decline is a matter of intense dispute fueled by different political perspectives. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' most recent report, the 1983 annual survey, shows that 7.6 injuries and illnesses occurred for every 100 full-time workers that year, a fractional drop from 7.7 in 1982 but a significant improvement over the 9.5 figure recorded in 1979. In contrast, office work presents relatively few dangers, although there are growing concerns about problems arising from the use of video display terminals and indoor air pollution.īad as the injury and illness figures are, they have been falling since 1979. Workers in these occupations often must cope with powerful machines, treacherous conditions and an array of potentially harmful chemicals. Mining, construction and agriculture are the most dangerous lines of employment. Occupational hazards come in many forms and are unevenly spread. While no one knows for sure how many illnesses are job-related, official estimates are conservatively put at more than 100,000 annually. 421), 38 workers sustain injuries that cause lost work time, restrict activity or require medical attention. In 2003, the death toll from mining accidents was approximately 270 fatalities and an agreement was reached to reduce mining fatalities by 20 per annum. ![]() Every minute of that day, by the same calculations (p. Other industrial consumers paid on the average $39.81 per short ton in the first quarter, and $39.12 per short ton in the fourth quarter.Tracking Casualties Dispute About Decline in Injury RatesĮvery hour of an average working day, one American dies from a work-related accident. During these periods of 1983, the average price of coal delivered to coke plants fell from $62.29 to $56.92. sites if the working time in the quarter is unequally distributed. Safety inspections conducted monthly or quarterly (for employers with a workers. A third Berggeschrey began in 1946 because of the uranium mining of the company SDAG. The average price per short ton of coal delivered to utilities fell from $35.42 in the first quarter to $34.61 in the fourth quarter. 200,000, where: N number of OSHA-recordable injuries or illnesses. The average quarterly prices of coal received by electric utilities, coke plants, and other industrials declined each quarter during 1983. Stocks held by producers and distributors were reduced from 36.8 to 33.9 million short tons during 1983. Coal stocks held by consumers totaled 26.6 million short tons below the beginning inventory. High stockpile levels in many countries also contributed to lower foreign demand. Strong competition from other coal exporting countries was the major contributing factor for the drop in U.S. Increased risk for injury has also been associated with working overtime, long hours, and 12-hour shifts ( Dembe, Delbos, and Erickson 2008 Folkard and Lombardi 2006 ). Coal exports in 1983 fell to 77.8 million short tons, a decline of 26.8% below 1982 and more » 30.9% under 1981. Evidence suggests that night workers have higher risk for injury than do day workers, with successive night shifts further elevating the risk ( Folkard and Tucker 2003 ). ![]() Due to economic recovery total domestic coal consumption increased 4.2% electric utility coal consumption increased 5.3% exports declined by approximately one-fourth coal consumption at coke plants declined 9.5% and coal consumption in the other industrial sector increased 2.9%. Coal production in 1983 totaled only 784.9 million short tons, 6.4% less than the 838.1 million short tons produced in 1982. Despite the large depletion in inventories, coal production in the second half of 1983 rose 1.3% above output in the second half of 1982. ![]()
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