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By Zachary
Coile
San Francisco Examiner - November 11, 1998
It's more dangerous than being an agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration,
a federal prison guard, a border patrol officer or even a U.S. Postal Service
employee.
But at least it's scenic.
National Park Service employees get injured more frequently than workers in
just about every other federal agency, according to data from the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration.
Among the least safe spots? Yosemite National Park, home of Half Dome and
El Capitan, and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which sweeps from
San Francisco into Marin County with stunning coastal views.
And now OSHA, one of the most feared regulators around, has been invited by
the Park Service to inspect 10 sites, including Yosemite and Golden Gate,
and overhaul safety procedures.
OSHA inspectors will help the Park Service address an injury rate that is
more than twice the average for federal workers. Yosemite's injury rate is
more than six times the federal average.
The injuries cost the agency $19.5 million in worker's compensation last year,
and even more in lost productivity.
The problem is not so much snake bites, hypothermia, wildlife attacks, avalanches
or other common wilderness fears. Workers are more often hurt performing physical
work, like heavy lifting, or using equipment without taking adequate precautions.
Park Service officials admit they haven't provided adequate training to employees,
many of whom are lured to the job by the active outdoor work.
"I think people get a little overly enthusiastic about their work," said Elaine
Sevy, a Park Service spokeswoman. "They don't have traditional office settings.
We have a lot of people in out-in-the-field type settings. They just need
to think before they act. If a visitor has a need, you have to just make sure
you've taken the proper precautions before you act."
Yosemite is on the Park Service's list of sites with the highest number of
worker injuries. In 1996, out of 509 full-time park employees, 86 had to take
time off work because of accidents or work-related illnesses. Park officials
acknowledge it's a serious problem.
"We have workers here who are doing a wide range of activities that would
be considered high-risk activities - clearing roads, trail-building, moving
large boulders, removing hazardous trees," said Scott Gediman, park spokesman.
"It's very physical, arduous work in a wilderness setting."
Though a snowplow driver, Barry Hance, was killed in an avalanche while clearing
snow on Tioga Road in 1995, Gediman said most employee injuries occur during
routine situations: rangers injuring their backs lifting too much weight,
maintenance workers suffering cuts while clearing brush, park police officers
getting hurt in auto accidents or administrative employees developing carpal-tunnel
syndrome.
Golden Gate National Recreation Area also has among the highest employee injury
rates. Of 194 full-time park workers in 1996, 20 missed work because of accidents
or work-related sickness.
A spokeswoman for the San Francisco-based park said park officials were awaiting
the OSHA inspection to help determine why so many employees had job-related
injuries that forced them to miss work.
Park Service Director Robert Stanton asked OSHA this summer to intervene -
the first time a federal agency has ever done so, according to OSHA officials.
The regulatory body has power to inspect federal work sites, but not to fine
agencies, except for the U.S. Postal Service, for violations.
OSHA spokesman Michael Fluharty said inspectors will check the 10 Park Service
sites for violations and help rewrite safety guidelines.
"Certainly it's a unique set of conditions," Fluharty said. "We're going to
have to look at it and say we don't see these type of things too often and
come up with some innovative approaches."
Park Service risk assessment chief Richard Powell said he believes the problem
is a culture within the agency that leads workers to take unnecessary risks.
"In our culture, people have learned to do things the expedient way," Powell
said. "There's kind of a can-do attitude, that we have a lot to do so let's
not worry about safety too much."
The rigorous, outdoor nature of Park Service work is no excuse for the high
injury rate, Powell said, noting that many timber companies do similar work
and have low injury rates. And workers at the U.S. Forest Service, which is
part of the Department of Agriculture, are only a third as likely to miss
work because of injuries.
He said the Park Service has failed to educate workers about safety measures,
such as devices to protect their hearing while operating loud equipment or
how to lift properly. "There's no reason that we have the (injury) rate we
do other than that we haven't been taking it seriously enough," Powell said.
©1998 San Francisco Examiner
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