Past ASSE Leaders Celebrate OSH Gains During Professional Day
Safety has become so engrained in the U.S. working population since the OSH Act's enactment that repealing it today wouldn't make much difference, one of ASSE's former presidents, Margaret Carroll, said when the association asked several past and current leaders for their thoughts in connection with Occupational Safety and Health Professional Day.
"We still hav a long way to go in increasing workplace safety for all," former President Eddit Greer said, according to ASSE's May 9 release. "Many women perished in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, yet even 80 years later, we had 25 workers die and 49 more injured when a fire broke out at a chicken processing plan in Hamlet, North Carolina. The plant doors were padlocked, trapping the workers inside, similar to what happened in 1911. We are making a different and workplace fatalities have gone down over the years, but we need to reach the businesses who don't have or ignore workplace safety and health processes."
ASSE and allied groups, including OSHA, as celebrating this year's North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week through May 12. The Professional Day is part of this annual observance; visit www.asse.org for information.