CHICAGO — The US Department of Labor is intervening in manufacturing facilities in Ohio and Illinois, where worker injury rates are higher than other states. The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) created the Local Emphasis Program to better monitor the more than 1,400 facilities in Ohio and Illinois and to protect their workers from workplace hazards.

The program consists of a three-month outreach phase, which began on Oct. 3. During this time, OSHA is raising awareness for worker safety and health among employers, local safety councils, hospitals, occupational health clinics and other organizations. Part of this effort includes encouragement for Ohio and Illinois employers to use OSHA's free consultation services, which provide help implementing machine safety strategies. Following the outreach period, OSHA will investigate any employers whose injury rates exceed the state average among food manufacturers.

“With the establishment of this Local Emphasis Program, OSHA will stress to employers the importance of taking steps to identify, reduce and eliminate workers’ exposure to machine hazards,” said Bill Donovan, regional administrator at OSHA. “Employers have a legal responsibility to provide a safe and healthful workplace whether workers are employed for a day, a season or year-round. This responsibility includes providing workers with training and orientation in the language they understand and making sure proper safety precautions and procedures are followed to prevent serious or fatal injuries.”

In 2019, OSHA found that food production workers in Ohio had a nearly 57% higher rate of amputations and 16% higher rate of fractures compared to the overall rates for manufacturers in the private sector. In Illinois, workers experienced a nearly 29% higher rate of amputations and 14% higher rate of fractures when compared to rates for private sector manufacturing jobs.