[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 28, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E795-E796]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY IN YORK, PA: ``MOURN FOR THE DEAD, FIGHT FOR THE 
                                LIVING''

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM F. GOODLING

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 28, 1999

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, today, ceremonies of memory and reflection 
marking Workers Memorial Day are taking place in cities and towns 
across the country, including York, PA, which is in my congressional 
district. The ceremony in York will particularly remember eight 
individuals from the 19th Congressional District of Pennsylvania who 
have been killed in tragic accidents while at their respective work 
sites this past year Joyce E. Born, Michael L. Brashears, Sr., C. 
William Brinkmann, Bradley M. Dietrick, William E. Keeney, Jr., Bernard 
L. Rishel, and Dennis J. Stough.
  Ceremonies such as the one taking place in York are an important 
reminder to us all of the importance of workplace safety. Accidents are 
never planned. Avoiding accidents requires the consistent efforts and 
vigilance of employers and employees. Government too plays a role in 
encouraging safe work practices.
  For far too long, federal efforts to limit workplace safety have been 
focused on enforcement for ``enforcement's sake.'' This has lead the 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to concentrate 
their limited resources on issues peripheral to worker safety

[[Page E796]]

including, but not limited to: paper work violations, duplicative 
inspections, and issuing citations as a performance bonus for 
inspectors.
  Congress has made progress over the past several years in redirecting 
and refocusing OSHA toward a different approach that maximizes their 
resources while increasing the overall quality of safety in America's 
workplaces. Instead of focusing on enforcement alone, we have worked to 
expand consultation, partnership, and outreach programs offered by 
OSHA.
  We can be grateful that workplace fatalities and workplace injury 
rates have declined and are now at the lowest levels since those 
records have been maintained. These record lows have even been achieved 
even though we are in the midst of a tight job market, a time in which 
injury rates have historically increased.
  Still, any workplace death is too many. I want to join with my 
constituents in remembering those who died, and using this day to 
encourage employers and employees to renew their efforts to prevent 
future tragedies from occurring.

                          ____________________