End confrontation on safety and health, white paper urges

Nov 24, 2008

The occupational safety and health community and President-Elect Barack Obama's new administration must "break the cycle of confrontation" that has stymied efforts to reduce workplace injuries and illnesses, according to a white paper released Nov. 3.

New Approaches to Establishing National Workplace Safety and Health Policy (.pdf file), released by Washington-based consulting firm ORC Worldwide, urges a more collaborative infrastructure.

"We are frankly weary of the culture of confrontation that perennially pervades the debates over workplace safety and health policy, that leads to political stalemate and that has alienated much of the safety and health community," ORC Senior Vice President Frank A. White said in the paper.

The United States is falling behind other regions of the world by continuing to rely on outdated hazard-specific standards, said White, who has held senior leadership positions in the Department of Labor, including OSHA deputy assistant secretary and OSHA associate solicitor. Both developed and developing nations around the world are adopting an approach that requires employers to evaluate all workplace risks and address them appropriately with safety management systems, he said.

Among the paper's recommendations are development of a national action plan to ensure all employers adopt a risk-based approach to safety, seating of an expert panel and stakeholder review of OSHA's rulemaking process, and creation of "transparent and participatory" government policy structure.

White said the 2008 election offers an opportunity for those in occupational safety and health to make progress in key policy areas.

"ORC strongly advocates taking advantage of what promises to be a new beginning to rethink how national workplace safety and health policy is developed and implemented and to devise new strategies and approaches that could help to break the longstanding gridlock on progress in many key areas," he said.