“You are always thinking the worst,” said Gomia, full-time safety chairman at IAM Local Lodge 1943 at AK Steel. “My heart stops.”
In Region V, which includes Ohio and five neighboring states, the number of deadly work-related accidents has dropped from 130 in 2007 to 115 last year, according to Bill Wilkerson, director of the Cincinnati Area Office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. He said as of April 1, there have been 27 fatal accidents in the six-state region.
Nationally, the number of fatal work-related accidents has dropped from 5.3 per 100,000 workers in 1994 to 3.3 per 100,000 workers in 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fatality rates have dropped nearly 38 percent in the last 10 years.
Gomia, and others in the safety business, credit the decline in work-related fatal accidents in the region to company compliance of OSHA regulations and employees’ heighten safety awareness.
Today, the IAM Local Lodge 1943 will host its annual Memorial Day Tribute for the 104 fallen members who lost their lives due to a work-related accident. The tribute will be at 4 p.m. today at the lodge, 1100 Crawford St.
When asked to pinpoint a reason for the drop in work-related deaths, Wilkerson, who has worked for OSHA for 36 years, said “it takes time for the culture to change. People don’t change overnight.”
There was a time, he said, when OSHA had to “fight” every time it wanted to inspect a business for possible safety violations. Now, he said, companies are more open to inspections and they’re willing to work with OSHA. And when violations are discovered, Wilkerson said, there’s not “a lot of kick back” from the companies.
“Safety seems to be ingrained in the culture now,” he said. “There’s a great more acceptance of health and safety in the work place.”
Wilkerson said the Cincinnati office serves a 20-county area and between eight to 12 deaths at work occur in the area every year. Of those, he said, three or four are not work-related. Sometimes, he said, the cause of those deaths may be health conditions such as a stroke or heart attack and unrelated to work.
Susan White, director of the Mid-America OSHA Education Center and safety director for the Ohio Valley Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, said recently there’s been “a bigger push” — especially in Southwest Ohio — for companies to go “above and beyond” OSHA regulations.
“Awareness is higher,” White said. “That makes a huge difference.”
She said companies, which once feared the presence of OSHA officials, are now inviting representatives onto their property.
“They’re not afraid to have a partnership,” said White, who added OSHA, employers and employees all are cooperating to make workplace safety a priority.
That’s certainly the case at AK Steel, the largest manufacturer in Butler County, said Gomia. He said there are 17 full-time safety coordinators in the plant and before each shift, they hold “tool box” meetings where safety discussions are a priority.
He said the meetings are a reminder to “get our minds on safety and to focus.”
He compared the mindset of working at AK Steel to playing competitive sports.
“When you step between the white lines,” he said, “you have to have a mental alertness. You have to focus on the job at hand. You can’t be thinking about the NCAA tournament, the weekend or a holiday. You have to be thinking about your job. It takes complete and total focus.”
He said workplace safety at AK Steel is “improving,” but “it’s a battle every day.”
The last fatal accident at AK Steel occurred on July 10, 2003 when a crane block fell and crushed the tow motor and its operator Ralph Eric Jones.
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