Article February 13, 1978 Issue

Occupational Safety and divine law

JAMES RICHARD BARTELS-KEITH

How safe is my workplace?

More and more people are asking this question in today's industrial society. Workers and employers alike face problems brought about in part by the very success of modern technology—by the introduction, for example, of unfamiliar chemicals, materials, and methods into the workplace. Problems also stem from new and sometimes disturbing information about materials previously regarded as innocuous; conflicts between claims of safety and profitability; and the growing cost of what is termed "human error."

While recent legislation aimed at enforcing proper safety standards in the workplace may be a step in the right direction, it is obviously no panacea. Rapid technological change poses difficulties in ensuring adequate protection for workers without placing unreasonable burdens on their employers. Human intelligence often seems unequal to the task.

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