In the wake of recent workplace disasters that have
injured and killed workers, many Americans support tighter workplace safety regulations. According to a new poll, many Americans also believe that the existing regulations if enforced strictly can also reduce the risk of injuries to workers.
The poll, conducted by HuffPost/YouGov, found that 44 percent of Americans believe that the current job safety regulations are not strict enough to help keep workers safe and prevent accidents. However, 26 percent of the respondents said that current workplace safety regulations are fairly adequate, while 7 percent said that they are too strict!
About 52 percent of the respondents indicated that more effective enforcement of current regulations would help prevent workplace injuries and deaths.
Most of those polled had heard about the recent Texas fertilizer plant explosion, with 44 percent saying they had heard a lot about it and 47% said they had heard something about the explosion. Ten percent had actually heard nothing about it.
Many of the issues that concern workplace safety in the United States are linked to the fact that the current regulations are not being strictly enforced. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, for example, does not have the resources to conduct oversight and inspections of all workplaces in the country. As a result, many workplaces, even high-hazard ones, go uninspected, sometimes for decades.
Michael Parsons is an Atlanta workers’ compensation lawyer, representing injured workers in the metro Atlanta region and helping them recover the workers’ compensation benefits that they have earned.
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