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The Bush Record on Workplace Health and Safety

The Bush administration took office in January 2001 and promptly began its assault on workers and workplace safety. Siding with its corporate allies, the administration has refused to require important workplace protections and has even rolled back laws that were in place. Examples of the Bush administration's failure on workplace health and safety include:

• Killing Ergonomics Protections — The Bush administration repealed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation to protect workers from back and other repetitive strain injuries. The rule, 10 years in the making, would have required employers to find and correct the conditions that cause more than one-third of all serious workplace injuries.
• Weakening Rule for Recording Ergonomic Injuries — After repealing the ergonomics rule, the Bush administration went a step further and did away with OSHA's requirement to identify ergonomic injuries on the workplace injury log. So rather than making employers get rid of hazards, the administration prefers to have reports of injuries disappear.
• Refusing to Protect Workers from Tuberculosis — OSHA withdrew its proposed rule to prevent exposure to tuberculosis. The measures that would have been required to prevent exposure to tuberculosis would also be effective for protecting workers from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and other diseases spread through the air.
• Letting Nursing Homes off the Hook — Due to the high rates of injuries and illnesses in nursing homes, OSHA initiated a special program of stepped up inspections and enforcement in this industry in 2002. OSHA did not renew the program even though injury and illness rates for nursing homes remain more than double the private sector national average.
• Stopping All New Workplace Safety and Health Rules — The Bush administration has shut down work on dozens of measures under development. They have even refused to require that employers pay for gloves and other personal protective equipment. This decision is especially important for immigrant and low wage workers. The Bush administration has the worst record on safety rules in OSHA's entire history.
• Favoring Voluntary Programs Over Effective Enforcement — OSHA has been expanding partnerships with employers and promoting voluntary efforts at the expense of aggressive and effective enforcement against employers who do not comply with safety and health laws.

May 2004

For more information about protecting workers from workplace hazards, contact the AFSCME Health and Safety Program at (202) 429-1228, or 1625 L Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036.

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