PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Charlene Obernauer, Executive Director of New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), on Workplace Fatality Database
0:40:23
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Charlene Obernauer, representing NYCOSH, testified in full support of Intro 865, which would require the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to establish an online public database of worker fatalities in New York City. She emphasized the current challenges in collecting comprehensive workplace fatality data and the potential benefits of a centralized database.
- NYCOSH has been compiling workplace fatality data through a labor-intensive process, highlighting the lack of a centralized information source.
- Current data sources like OSHA and BLS have significant delays in reporting fatalities.
- The proposed database would enable timely access to data, allowing for better analysis of trends across various industries and improved oversight of unscrupulous employers.
Charlene Obernauer
0:40:23
Thanks so much.
0:40:24
My name is Charlene Obenauer, and I'm the Executive Director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety And Health, NIOSH.
0:40:30
We've been advocating for safe and healthy jobs for decades with a particular focus on workplace fatalities, and we're here today to testify in full support of intro 865.
0:40:41
The bill would require the Department of Consumer And Worker Protection to establish and maintain an online public database of worker fatalities.
0:40:49
So for many years, as Brendan had said, we've been putting together a list of workers who have been killed on the job.
0:40:57
And we also work with the Speaker of the City Council to compile a list of workers who've died.
0:41:03
I will tell you that process might seem like you know, we just go to a database and we find those desks.
0:41:10
It's not.
0:41:11
We have a number of Google alerts set.
0:41:14
We go through communications.
0:41:16
We go through articles.
0:41:18
We go through OS data.
0:41:20
There's no centralized location for this information.
0:41:24
So also, you know, in these instances, you know, the OSHA data is released 6 months after a worker is killed.
0:41:31
The BLS data is released almost 2 years later.
0:41:34
And, of course, thanks to our advocates in the New York State Senate And Assembly.
0:41:39
There's now a New York State Department of Labor Administrative Workplace fatalities registry for construction deaths.
0:41:46
There are media reports, but there's inconsistent information.
0:41:50
And we've uncovered important information through our process of collecting data.
0:41:54
We found that when a worker dies on a construction site in New York, 80% to 90% of the time, that fatality occurs on a nonunion site.
0:42:01
We found that immigrant workers particularly let workers are more likely to die on the job.
0:42:06
And given how intensive it is, to recover this data, we don't have the resources to write these reports in every industry, including other industries like the Delviristas with high fatality rate The bill would give us the opportunity to have timely access to data, and we could write more reports on other industries and frankly serve as a better watchdog to unscrupulous employers.
0:42:26
Thank you.
