"Every day in the United States, 14 workers die on the job and millions of workers are seriously injured or sickened by doing their work. The harms to workers, the costs to our healthcare system, and the damages to communities are immense.
Yet many of these injuries and deaths could have been prevented by applying the lessons learned from our country's history of workplace health and safety. It is a history rich in powerful examples of regulations failing to protect workers as well as policies and practices that enable workers to be healthy and safe. These lessons can be used to create far more effective approaches that not only protect workers but also reduce the harms to society.
Going to work should not be a choice between feeding your family and protecting your health and safety.
To make these lessons clear and useful, the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production has produced Lessons Learned: Solutions for Workplace Safety and Health. The report's six case studies illustrate systemic failures to protect workers, communities, and the environment such as:
•Immigrant workers killed and severely burned in house fires caused by the chemicals used to refinish wood floors.
•Health care workers, hotel housekeepers, as well as meat and poultry workers disabled by back injuries and other musculoskeletal strain from long hours of awkward postures and repetitive movements.
•Long and avoidable delays in the scientific and legal proceedings used to set health standards protecting workers from cancer-causing chemicals.
We are proud that noted labor photojournalist Earl Dotter has allowed us to use his compelling photographs throughout the report. We are also grateful to the Public Welfare Foundation for supporting this project and the dozens of occupational health experts (too many to mention) that we consulted with as we selected and developed the individual case studies. "

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