OSHA celebrates 40 years of protecting workers from asbestosWashington, D.C. - Unions and workers across the globe commemorated those who lost their lives on the job or as a result of occupational disease on Workers Memorial Day celebrated yearly on April 28th. To mark the seriousness of work-related injury, the AFL-CIO released a report that same day stating that despite significant advances, an average of 12 US workers dies in traumatic workplace accidents every day. This year’s Workers Memorial Day also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Although OSHA still has a lot of work to do, the difference the Washington, D.C.-based agency has made over the last four decades is nothing short of astonishing. In the 1970’s, there were around 14,000 workplace fatalities per year in a workforce of under 80 million. By 2009 the workforce had almost doubled, but fatalities dropped to 4340.
One of OSHA’s most important campaigns has been the one it’s waged against asbestos exposure. Asbestos is a highly toxic mineral that was used in several industries, including construction and munitions manufacturing. Because asbestos causes lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the protective lining of the lungs, heart, chest and abdomen, asbestos was banned from most uses in 1989. However, asbestos can still be found in many buildings and on many industrial work sites.
Many of the workers who were exposed to asbestos on the job in the 1970’s are only now beginning to show the signs of asbestos cancer. This aggressive and terminal cancer takes an average of 40 years to develop, and it is very difficult to detect because it usually doesn’t become symptomatic until it reaches stage three or four. Because one of OSHA’s earliest standards limited worker exposure to airborne asbestos, many workers will never have to face the harsh consequences of asbestos-related disease.
