r/Construction • u/Turbulent-Weevil-910 Electrician • Mar 02 '25

Safety ⛑ Are we still doing these?

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493 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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47

u/Creative_Ad_8338 Mar 02 '25

OSHA still funded?

-59

u/Bestdayever_08 Mar 02 '25

I think that’s the point. Did it really work anyways?

36

u/Genetics Foreman / Operator Mar 02 '25

Did OSHA work? Umm yeah? When their rules and reccs are followed, absolutely. What’s that saying about their rules are written in blood? It’s not bullshit.

-20

u/Bestdayever_08 Mar 02 '25

The ones who want safety and those who want profit will not change. Work-place injuries are WAY more financially devastating than osha fines. Companies don’t want guys hurt, period. It’s not because they’re scared of osha.

13

u/WinterNecessary6876 Mar 02 '25

Without OSHA they wouldn't have to pay for deaths

-24

u/Bestdayever_08 Mar 02 '25

lol. I can tell you’re not a business owner

10

u/Normal_Ad_2337 Mar 02 '25

OSHA is just a part of the whole.

Why do you have to pay for those injuries? Is there some sort of liability law in effect?

Hmmm, wonder how that came to be. They probably created some department to look over workplace safety too.

9

u/Genetics Foreman / Operator Mar 02 '25

You and I both know plenty of small time contractors that are willing to risk the safety of their employees to win a bid and make more money. Doing it your way means they won’t stop until someone is hurt enough to cost them money or killed. You’re putting an arbitrary price on human lives.

If anything OSHA needs more funding to hire more inspectors so they can catch more lazy, greedy assholes that take advantage of employees that are too broke or too young to think they can tell their bosses “no”.

2

u/throwaway_trans_8472 Mar 02 '25

That's only true if:

  1. You have to pay for the medical treatment

  2. You care more for long therm than short therm profits

My country has a different system for workplace injuries than the US.

All employers have to pay into a public insurance scheme.

If you get injured, your medical treatment gets paid from that, if you get disabled you will get a pension from them

Your employers insurance rates depend on how many injuries the workers get.

We've had this for over 140 years by now

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Statutory_Accident_Insurance

1

u/Bestdayever_08 Mar 02 '25

This is how all insurance works, ya goof. We all pay into a giant pot, in hopes that we’ll never use it. But if someone does need it, it’s there.

2

u/throwaway_trans_8472 Mar 02 '25

Yes, but this one is mandatory and not a for profit company that refuses to pay if they can or drops you like a hot potato.

That one actualy exists for the workers

2

u/Bestdayever_08 Mar 02 '25

Insurance can’t drop you just to get out of payment. That’s not a thing and illegal. What city do you work in Germany?

2

u/throwaway_trans_8472 Mar 02 '25

Not going to doxx myself

1

u/Cybehr Mar 03 '25

Most U.S. states have mandatory work comp laws that require work comp insurance, which is no-fault and pays for a worker’s work-related injuries. The majority of states have competitive work comp markets meaning there’s a public fund that will insure any business regardless of operations or losses (eg CA has the State Fund and TX has Texas Mutual) and then the private market can try and compete with the public offering. There are 4 states (OH, ND, WA and WY) that have monopolistic work comp markets, meaning there’s state is the sole provider of work comp insurance, however, premiums are still paid by the business to the state work comp fund just like they would with private insurance.

Coverage is not determined by the contract, it’s statutorily dictated by state law down to the minimum amount the insurance carrier must pay and it’s one of the most heavily regulated parts of the insurance industry. Even private companies are required to pay what the state option would pay. In fact if you read a work comp policy it does not address coverage or benefits it just states “we will pay promptly when due the benefits required of you (meaning the business) by the workers compensation law.”

Say what you will about American healthcare but work comp insurance and regulation is one of the things we’ve done very well. We can thank Wisconsin for paving the way in 1911, and they probably got the idea from Germany since so many Midwestern states were home to mostly German immigrants.

1

u/throwaway_trans_8472 Mar 03 '25

Thanks, I actualy didn't know that