No one I’ve interviewed has talked with such blunt honesty and clarity about the status of safety and health in the U.S. than Dr. I. David Daniels. Dr. Daniels is an occupational health and safety professional, thought leader, advisor and president/CEO of ID2 Solutions, LLC. He was chief safety officer for Richmond, VA, and the executive director of workforce safety for Atlanta, GA.

“Is safety just physical stuff? No, there are hazards you can’t see but can feel,” said Dr. Daniels, author of the book, “Psychosocial Hazards Are Real!”

Hazards you can feel but not see don’t hold a high status in most workplaces. Mental health is getting more attention and awareness, but widespread acceptance and action on psychosocial risks has a long way to go. A year ago, NIOSH issued an urgent call in a science blog to address these risks, which include shiftwork, long work hours, work overload, inadequate staffing/scheduling, lack of job training, role ambiguity, poor coworker relations, fatigue, violence, bullying, name-calling and public ridicule. 

One, how many people associate public ridicule and role ambiguity as safety issues? Two, how many people do you think ever read that blog? Three, after being virtually gutted by budget and staff cuts, NIOSH will likely have no more to say on the subject. That’s a serious blow, because the institute has been one of the few loud, persistent voices advocating for psychological safety. Much more than OSHA.

A lagging indicator

Dr. Daniels pointed out that ISO 45003 is the global standard providing guidance on managing psychological safety in the workplace. It lists 88 psychosocial risks. Forty countries have identified psychosocial hazards as risks requiring attention — laws or guidance — the same as physical hazards, he said. The United States is not one of them.

The U.S. lagging here leads to a larger cultural issue. 

In the U.S., the attitude typically is, “I don’t see this (psychosocial hazard) as a problem. You might. But I don’t,” said Dr. Daniels. The person in distress most likely gets no relief, despite their insistence of abuse and suffering.

These situations play out every day in workplaces across the country. “We normalize it,” said Dr. Daniels. “Just push through it. Suck it up. Just do it. We’re told we need to be resilient, just toughen up.”

I tried to defend American values. Culturally we’re more aggressive, I told Dr. Daniels, but we can still care about well-being, and no one wants to see workers suffer.

“We’re not serious about safety and health”

“I’d push back on that,” Dr. Daniels replied. “The focus on safety (in general) is not as progressive in the U.S. as in other countries. OSHA is so small for a country this size, we’re not serious about safety and health. Our system is focused more on profit than people. We’re uber capitalists. If a fix costs money, the money is most often not there. I’d argue we value money over people.”  

The safety versus productivity debate (does it have to be win-lose?) never ends. But I’ve never heard the problem is that we’re uber capitalists. I’ve never heard it called out that “If a fix costs money, the money is most often not there.” Sure, it’s a fact in some, too many workplaces, but I’ve never heard it spelled out so bluntly by a safety professional. 

Along these lines I recently came across some troubling research: 75% of employees surveyed said their employers value company reputation over safety; 68% said the bottom line and productivity are valued over safety.

Dr. Daniels called it for what it is: a pathetic lack of serious support for safety exists in the U.S. It's the elephant in the room. Safety pros on a company payroll can’t talk in an interview about their company’s hunger for PROFIT without jeopardizing their job.

Although several pros agreed when I posted the interview with Dr. Daniels on my LinkedIn profile. 

“Regulatory compliance should be, but sadly isn’t the critical factor so often touted in Board rooms, and rarely is it ever admitted that the true factor is P R O F I T! It’s been this way since the start of the industrial revolution,” said a retired division safety manager. Note: it’s easier to be honest when you’re out of the game. 

“The most significant work-related causes of physical and mental illnesses are dangerous, unhealthy, precarious, dishonest, destructive, exploitative and poorly paid work, nothing else even comes close!” said a self-proclaimed safety and health activist, innovator and investigator. “The law-of-fiduciary-duty-profit-at-any-cost = if care costs more than killing, make more coffins.”

Where’s the interest?

You’d expect that from an activist. Why aren’t there more safety and health activists? Look at all the environmentalists. Unions aside, I’ve interviewed very few public advocates. Safety professionals will advocate, sure. But who else? To me this is a sign of the public’s general apathy about workplace safety. It doesn’t come up.  The media seldom covers it save for incidents or explosions. And there is a lack of political will to seriously talk about safety and health in Congress, in the White House, and at most state and local levels. The only time Congress ever acted on safety and health since the OSH Act passed in 1970 — 55 years ago — was to overturn OSHA’s ergonomics rule in 2001.

To be sure, there are companies, high-risk operations and multi-nationals, that do give a damn. The likes of Apple, AT&T, Chevron, Comcast, Danaher, FedEx, Genetech, Lockheed Martin, Nike, Novartis, Pfizer, PG&E, SoCal Edition, ThermoScientific, Boeing, Cummins, Dekra, Paramount, Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb. These are all members of an elite, closed-door networking forum I won’t name. Big brands and big reputations to protect; big investments in safety and health. 

But about 98 percent of all businesses in the U.S. have fewer than one hundred employees. And likely no full-time safety and health officer. There is no significant knowledge of hazards, best practices and how to comply. Safety first? To me it’s always been an empty slogan. Going way back to 1923, a silent movie comedy, “Safety Last,” made a mockery of the idea.

What drives our business values? I agree with Dr. Daniels. “Our system is focused more on profit than people.” That’s why the job of safety and health professionals will always be purposeful, essential and often so daunting. And I get it, they have more important priorities than talking about the realities, the barriers they often face. The challenge is to overcome the obstacles of public apathy, media disinterest, and political inaction.