[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 4, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF WORKERS' MEMORIAL DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. LAURA RICHARDSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 27, 2010

  Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a cosponsor of H. Res. 
375, which supports the goals and ideals of Workers' Memorial Day, 
recognizes the importance of worker health and safety, and encourages 
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, employers, and 
employees to support activities aimed at increasing awareness of the 
importance of workplace safety. This legislation serves as an important 
tribute to the men and women who have been killed or injured in the 
workplace and a reminder of the need for a national effort to ensure 
that workplaces across the country are as safe as possible.
  I thank Chairman Miller for his leadership in bringing this 
resolution to the floor. I also thank the sponsor of this legislation, 
Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, for her dedication to ensuring a 
safe and healthy environment for all workers in the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, every year, about 5,000 individuals are killed due to 
workplace related injuries. That is an average of 14 workers each day 
that die due to an accident in the workplace. In an advanced, 
industrialized society, these numbers are simply unacceptable. Many 
workers in my district are employed by the Port of Long Beach, where 
they operate complicated machinery and move heavy equipment to help 
facilitate the movement of goods throughout the United States. They 
deserve our best effort to provide them with a safe workplace as they 
perform this important work. Recent workplace tragedies, such as the 
death of the 29 coal miners in the disaster at the Upper Big Branch 
Mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia, and the explosion of the 
Transocean Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that left 17 
workers injured and 11 missing, have made even clearer the need for 
increased workplace protections in the United States. Hopefully, we can 
take these horrible tragedies as a call to ensure that the necessary 
workplace safety and health regulations are in place for all Americans. 
Regardless of whether you work in an office complex or a textile mill, 
a steel plant or on an oil rig, every American deserves the assurance 
of knowing that he or she is safe at work.
  Mr. Speaker, our nation needs a sustained and heightened focus on 
safety in the workplace, so that every employee in the United States 
can work in a healthy environment and return home safely to his or her 
family at the end of the day. This resolution is an important step in 
that effort.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 375.