WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION: Protecting Contract Workers: Case Study of the US Department of Energy's Nuclear and Chemical Waste Management
Source: Michael Gochfeld, MD, PhD and Sandra Mohr, MD, MPH, American Journal of Public Health, September 2007, Vol 97, No. 91607-1613
ABSTRACT
Increased reliance on subcontractors in all economic sectors is a serious occupational health and safety challenge. Short-term cost savings are offset by long-term liability. Hiring subcontractors brings specialized knowledge but also young, inexperienced, inadequately trained workers onto industrial and hazardous waste sites, which leads to increased rates of accidents and injuries.
Reliable data on subcontractor occupational health and safety programs and performance are sparse. The US Department of Energy has an excellent safety culture on paper, but procurement practices and contract language deliver a mixed message--including some safety disincentives.
Its biphasic safety outcome data are consistent with underreporting by some subcontractors and underachievement by others. These observations are relevant to the private and public sectors. Occupational health and safety should be viewed as an asset, not merely a cost.