Gov. Matt Mead says tougher regulations aren’t the only answer to improving workplace safety.
“I want to be careful before we move down that path, because I also think that industry, on a voluntary basis, has a role to play,” Mead said. “I think enforcement is also part of it. But … we need to make sure that we have the data on what are the cause of these accidents and what are possible corrections for those accidents.”
Mead was speaking to the Wyoming Press Association in Laramie.
Wyoming has one of the highest rates of workplace fatalities in the country, and the state epidemiologist recently released a report which found that most deadly accidents happened when safety procedures weren’t being followed.
The AFL-CIO and some other groups are calling on the state to give more authority to OSHA and to impose tougher penalties on companies that don’t adhere to safety procedures.