Unless you've been living in another galaxy, you are undoubtedly aware that the world is going through a bit of an economic rough spot. In fact, it's gotten so bad that even multibillionaires are starting to dine a McDonald's thanks a single New Yorker. Still, that's still no excuse for the fact that workplace deaths in North Caroline are up as a result of the economy woes.
According to the North Carolina Department of Labor, the concern is that more and more companies are cutting corners with regards to safety. On top of that, when budgets need to be slashed to meet budget crunches, the bottom-liners tend to first make cuts in safety and training budgets.
Wow. I guess that the naïve part of me wanted to believe that some things – such as workplace safety – were never subject to economic trends. Job safety was always priority #1.
Now, as I walk in from fairytale land and drift back into reality, I see that this is not the case and the result is that more and more people are needlessly dying on the job than in stronger economic times.
However, it's not just employers ' faults – or rather, your employer's faults. The article goes on to point the blame at consulting/temp firms which try and win projects by offering the lowest bid. That results in hiring under-experienced workers who don't have the job experience or training which also add to that increase of deaths. Given the way 2009 is starting, I'm afraid to re-read this article in another year.