OSHA's Budget Doesn't Match Workplace Dangers

"Many workers climb, rappel or reach into daily dangers but draw federal notice only by dying. Given limited budgets and frequent political attempts at reducing enforcement even more, inspectors might be absent until a calamity occurs." So writes Dallas News staff writer Randy Lee Loftis in "OSHA no match for workplace dangers that kill thousands," an article published online Nov. 23, 2013. The article shares the stories of four workers killed between 2005 and 2009 while working in the refinery industry in southeast Texas. As Loftis explains, such stories rarely make the front page and many others don't make the news at all. Loftis also shines the light on limitations created by OSHA's budget. "OSHA’s 2014 budget request, $571 million, would run EPA ($8.2 billion) for about 25 days." Read Loftis's complete article here.