美国国家公共电台 NPR Feds Find Kentucky Fails To Meet Standards For Worker Safety

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Kentucky's worker safety agency has a lot of problems. That's according to a recent audit¹ by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA. The report says the flaws in the program have in some cases been fatal. From the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, Eleanor Klibanoff reports.

(SOUNDBITE OF DUMP TRUCK)

ELEANOR KLIBANOFF, BYLINE²: On what would have been her 43rd wedding anniversary, Lisa Hobbs stands in the front yard of Camp Pius, the farm handed down through her husband's family for generations. She watches as the very same dump truck that killed her husband rolls down her country lane. In December 2016, Pius Gene³ Hobbs was raking gravel⁴ with the Meade County public works crew when Dump Truck Number 225 backed over him. The driver then accelerated forward, hitting him a second time. Hobbs was crushed to death.

(SOUNDBITE OF DUMP TRUCK)

LISA HOBBS: OK, let's hear that one.

(SOUNDBITE OF DUMP TRUCK)

HOBBS: No backup beeper, no backup beeper.

KLIBANOFF: More than a year later, when Lisa Hobbs sees that same truck Number 225 reverse, she hears how nothing has changed. On the day of her husband's death, both an eyewitness⁵ and a state trooper said the truck's backup beeper was not audible. Hobbs might not have heard the truck coming. But Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health said the beeper wasn't a problem. That was after testing it on a quiet street hours later. The same inspector⁶ failed to interview the sole eyewitness and overlooked possible worker safety violations⁷ at the worksite.

JORDAN BARAB: Well, these shortcomings are very concerning.

KLIBANOFF: Jordan Barab is a workplace safety expert who ran federal OSHA under President Obama.

BARAB: Identifying the causes of these incidents is also vitally important because otherwise the employer doesn't know how to avoid the next incident.

KLIBANOFF: Gene Hobbs' case is not the exception. In fact, it's the norm. That's according to an annual audit that federal OSHA conducts of all 28 state-run worker safety programs. The most recent audit of Kentucky, which covered fiscal⁸ year 2017, was sharply critical - depicting⁹ an understaffed, under-resourced agency that's failing to protect Kentucky's workers. Federal officials specifically criticized how the state investigates worker deaths. In a statement, the Federal Department of Labor¹⁰ said it's working with Kentucky on a corrective action plan. Barab said the feds have the authority to take over state-run programs that don't meet federal standards.

BARAB: Having a state program is a privilege not a right of the states. And certainly it requires the states to address rapidly and seriously any problems that are identified by federal OSHA.

KLIBANOFF: The Kentucky Labor Cabinet declined to comment. But speaking to WKMS Public Radio in April, then-Labor Secretary Derrick Ramsey explained how the state approaches companies about possible worker safety violations.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

DERRICK RAMSEY: We're going to educate. We're going to educate. We're going to educate. And we're going to educate and then citate.

LAURA STOCK: Without a really strong enforcement unit, these voluntary compliance¹¹ assistance programs are not going to be able to do the job.

KLIBANOFF: Laura Stock is the director of the Labor Occupational Health Program at the University of California, Berkeley. She said what's happening in Kentucky reflects a national trend. Republican Governor Matt Bevin's administration has been strongly pro-business and anti-regulation. When Gene Hobbs was run over by a dump truck, Kentucky issued no violations or fines to his employer. A state worker safety supervisor¹² wrote in an email that Hobbs walked behind, quote, "an apparently¹³ completely compliant¹⁴ dump truck, backup alarms working." The supervisor added that Hobbs, quote, "just zigged when he should have zagged."

HOBBS: We know that's not the truth. It's not the truth.

KLIBANOFF: Federal OSHA agreed with Gene Hobbs' widow Lisa. In a report, the agency found that the state failed to interview the eyewitness, missed possible worker safety violations and hadn't done enough to test the dump truck's backup beeper.

HOBBS: We're not the only one. There's a lot out there.

KLIBANOFF: Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health investigated 44 deaths in a two year period. According to the federal audit, there were serious shortcomings in a vast majority of those investigations¹⁵. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Klibanoff in Louisville.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE BURNING PARIS' "COLDER")

1 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

4 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

5 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

6 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

7 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

8 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

9 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

12 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 compliant   

adj.服从的，顺从的

参考例句：

• I don't respect people who are too compliant.我看不起那种唯命是从，唯唯诺诺的人。
• For years I had tried to be a compliant and dutiful wife.几年来，我努力做一名顺从和尽职尽职的妻子。

15 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。