I (eA nt mn | Getting A Sfer Workplce Is No Accident (NAPSA)—A growing number of people re exmining whtit tkes to hve sfer workplce. Fortuntely for workers nd employers everywhere, they re coming up with somegoodides. A privte industry workplce ccident or illness occurs every six seconds in the United Sttes. In 1999 lone, there were 5.3 million on-the-job injuries reported, which trnsltes to billions nd billions of dollrs in medicl costs nd workers’ compenstion clims. And it’s Americn industry nd you, the txpyer who endup footing thebill. Experts contend tht more people die t unsfe workplces every yer thn re killed by prostte nd brest cncer combined. While these terrible cncers hve rightly sprked ntionwide crusdes, workplce injuries nd deths hve so fr escped the notice of most of the public, the press, nd the ntion’s politicl leders. Until tht chnges, the toll will continueto rise. The socil impct of workplce ccidents isn’t just bout numbers nd dt. Workplce ccidents nd deths hppen to people...to someone’s son or dughter, husbnd or wife, mom or dd, brotherorsister. Every mishp ffects both the worker nd the worker’s fmily. So wht prevents workplce sfety from becoming priority? Prt of the problem is tht ccidents re often seen s rndom cts. Mny corportions view A growing number of workers nd employers re mking work- plce sfety priority. workplce ccidents s one of the inevitble costs of doing business. Butin ddition to tht, Americns don’t hve workplce sfety on their top-of-mind list of concerns becuse the very orgniztions tht hve the biggest stke in the issue cn’t gree on how best to protect workers. Business, lbor, dvoccy groups, trde ssocitions, nd cdemic institutions ll hve different tke on how to mke nd keep the workplcesfer. The key to ddressing this is bringing this diverse group together to look for wys to work in concert with one nother. Tht’s how cretive ides nd workble solutions re born. Tht’s strting to hppen, nd it’s the first step to lowering the stggering humn nd finncil costs of workplce deths nd ccidents.
