Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Conference
Spokane, Washington
Sept. 27, 2006

Welcome, safety and health professionals, to the Annual Governor's Industrial Safety & Health Conference.

Governor Gregoire sends her regrets that she is not able to attend today as she had originally planned. The governor had a one-time opportunity to visit our Washington air and army guard troops and who are helping monitor the Arizona-Mexico border.

By virtue of the fact that she is out of the state, however, it means that I am the acting governor today and it is my absolute honor to be here with you in her stead.

On behalf of the Governor, I’d like to thank all of you for taking the time to attend this conference. By setting aside these two days to focus on workplace safety and health, you’ve shown your commitment and I thank you for that.

I’d also like to thank the members of the members of the advisory board who put this conference on.

The Governor asked me to especially express our appreciation to Kirk Hayfield, President of the Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Board, and all of the board members for their hard work.

The board members represent diverse industries from around the state. They come together as a group and work year round to put together this conference and other educational seminars.

The board members are all volunteers, and they pay all their own expenses. That illustrates their real dedication to safety and health education and awareness.

Let’s all thank the board members for their hard work.

I know the governor’s absence in no way diminishes the value that she places on safety and health in the workplace and the work that you all do toward the protection of the 3.3 million people in the civilian labor force in Washington State.

I share the governor’s commitment and applaud the combined efforts of business and labor to prevent accidents and illnesses. I understand your theme this year is Safety and Health: Not just a Job, It’s a Way of Life. That does indeed describe the seriousness of this conference and the job that you all have before you. It is not just talk but an every day commitment that needs to happen around the clock 365 days a year.

And those of you who are devoting your careers toward of achieving this way of life are in fact the heroes. You may not always be appreciated – or uniformly listened to – but it is you who get the hidden credit for saving untold hundreds or even thousands of worker lives each year. At the same time are protecting our families and their livelihood.

In my capacity as lieutenant governor I have had the privilege of representing our state to many other countries and often admire the advances they have made on several fronts, specifically in Asia. But as I travel I frequently see examples where workplace safety and health does not get the attention it so desperately needs.

The United States is still well ahead of most other nations in that arena and are providing an outstanding example for the world. And Washington state, despite its many hazardous occupations, had demonstrated repeatedly that among states it can be a leader among leaders with regards to workplace safety and health.

Washington’s safety and health program is one of the best in the country, and we’re proud that our state has one of the lowest injury rates in the nation. The state’s injury rates have been declining over the years, thanks in large part to all of your dedicated work and cooperative efforts. Even with our envious safety record, the number of deaths in workplace is always too high.

One death is too many – 100, the number of workplace deaths our state typically posts each year - is way too many. But I know great strides are being made and our challenge is to keep on this job until the lives lost is zero. Our children need their parents and grandparents, and our state needs its citizens to stay healthy.

This year already, nearly 50 workers have been killed on the job. These tragedies occurred in a multitude of industries:

- A logger struck by a tree
- An ironworker who fell 30 feet from a roof
- A forklift operator who went off a dock
- A construction worker electrocuted

And of course, a number of motor vehicle accidents, always the leading cause of workplace deaths. If that were not tragic enough, hundreds of other workers have been seriously injured.

These are grim reminders that despite the progress we’re making, there’s still much to be done.

And that is why this conference is so important, why  you are so important! It keeps everyone focused on recognizing and preventing workplace hazards, it offers solutions, and it brings everyone together with a common goal of preventing these unnecessary deaths and injuries.

One of the things we can do toward prevention is educate our young people about the importance of safety and health in our workplace, a topic too often not included in the curriculum in our schools.

A little bit later in this morning’s program, I’ll be meeting with a group of Spokane area high school students who are here at the conference as part of the school-to-work program.

The school-to-work program recognizes that a student’s primary job is getting a good education. But it also emphasizes that learning to work safely and make responsible choices can be a valuable part of an education as well.

These enthusiastic young people will be the workforce of tomorrow.

We owe it to them – the workers of the future – as well as to ourselves, our families, communities, and coworkers to work together to make Washington worksites safer and healthier.

Today we will also honor forty-three people with lifesaving and humanitarian awards, those who have put their training to the test. No one among us knows when a co-worker will collapse and we will be pressed to save a life – all we can do is be prepared.

One of the key ways we can prepare is to keep drugs and illicit drugs out of the workplace – meth and other instances of substance abuse continues to be a big story across our state and is effecting each and every one of us, whether we know it or not.

As a former small business person myself I applaud the efforts that L&I is making to help small business. Reaching out and help these busy people understand our state’s regulations.

There are so many things to do and this conference is just a place where we can share and learn from each other.

Thank you again for your dedication. I wish you all the very best for a meaningful and productive conference.