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ETA News Release: [09/21/2005]
Contact Name:
Stephanie Cathcart
Phone Number: 202-693-4676
Release Number: 05-1780-NAT
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
Delivers Keynote Address at National Safety Congress
Nation Must Prepare for a Generational Shift
in Workforce and Impact on Workplace Safety
ORLANDO, Fla. — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
told more than 5,000 safety and health professionals gathered here today
that employers and employees must work together to ensure that workplace
safety and health ranks among the highest priorities of every organization.
The Secretary's keynote address at the National Safety Council's 93 rd Congress
and Exposition also noted a “generational shift” is taking place in the nation's
workforce, which makes health and safety training more important than ever.
“As the baby-boomer generation leaves the workplace, they are taking with
them the health and safety knowledge they gained through a lifetime of work
experience,” said Secretary Chao. “So our country's challenge today is to
intensify our health and safety training for the incoming new generation
of workers.”
Chao told the audience that a new safety paradigm is needed in which employers
and workers work together to build a culture within the organization that
places safety first. She also noted that since 2001, the number of workplace
fatalities has been reduced to record lows, in part because of the Labor
Department's multi-prong strategy that focuses on strong and effective enforcement,
the targeting of bad actors and compliance assistance.
“Strong, fair and targeted enforcement; an Enhanced Enforcement Program
that targets bad actors who continually put their workers at risk; and compliance
assistance to help employers and workers understand their responsibilities
and rights under the law have helped achieve these results,” Chao continued.
She noted that cooperative programs, such as Occupational Safety and Health
Administration's (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), continue to get
results. Twenty years of experience has shown that VPP participants have
incident rates averaging 50 percent below other companies in the same industries.
And under this Administration, safety partnership in the VPP program has
doubled. And the Labor Department has 350 health and safety partnerships
with organized labor – the highest number ever. Chao added that the Labor
Department is also reaching out to the international community to share lessons
learned and assist developing nations in improving workplace health and safety.
Finally, Secretary Chao praised the work of the professionals at the Labor
Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Mine Safety
and Health Administration. She noted that as soon as Hurricane Katrina struck,
OSHA sent teams of professionals to work with local and state officials to
ensure that recovery efforts are not compromised by injuries and fatalities
caused by accidents that can be avoided.
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