Unions have been strong advocates for safety By CARL HANSON, Pacific Northwest Council of Carpenters
A 2002 study of OSHA trench cave-in regulations found that overall. the regulations had reduced trench cave-in fatalities by 66 percent over a 10-year period.
The same study also found that only 11 percent of such fatalities occurred with firms that were unionized. Union construction workers had a trench cave-in fatality rate half that of the nonunion sector. Our thorough safety training clearly pays off.
The disparity in trench cave-in fatalities between the union and nonunion sector can also be due to the fact that union workers are more willing to speak out against unsafe working conditions because their union membership provides them with some protection against an employer who would retaliate against them. Not all workers have this protection, however.