Easing labor pains

摘要

Washington pilot program shows you how to protect your workers, reduce lost time, and cut insurance premiums. For years, Washington tree fruit growers were frustrated by the stance on worker safety taken by the state Department of Labor and Industries (L&I). Their main bone of contention, says the president of the Washington Growers League, Mike Gempler, was that the bureaucrats were barking up the wrong tree. "We were yelling for years: 'You aren't looking at the real problems'," says Gempler. "They were hassling us about the wrong things." The "right things," which L&I is finally getting squared away, are eye injuries and ladder falls. Eye injuries are the most common problem in the orchard, while ladder falls are the most costly. (Actually, falls are the most frequent type of accident, but in falls several parts of the body can be injured, including legs, back, etc.) After poring over the data, L&I came up with a pilot program, the so-called "Eyes and Falls Initiative," in January 2000 to cutdown on these common injuries. The department targeted tree fruit growers in three counties -- Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan -- for enforcement. But in Washington, where many growers have orchards in far-flung areas to take advantage of different growingconditions, the effects felt in those three counties soon rippled statewide, says Phil Hull, the league's safety program administrator.