The United Steelworkers union (USW) on August 9 settled a lawsuit with DuPont over 20 photographs of potential safety hazards at the company’s
“For a company that proclaims to be one of the safest in the world, it’s not surprising that the company would go to such great lengths to prevent the release of these photos,” said USW international representative Jim Briggs. “They show the unsafe conditions workers encounter day-to-day.”
Pictures of such things as an instrument electrical line running through water and chemical dust hazards were given to the union from an anonymous source. DuPont learned about the pictures during a union-management meeting about an employee accident in which a woman was seriously burned.
In 2004, an administrative law judge ruled DuPont violated federal law when it failed to provide the union’s safety specialist access to the facility. The judge found that DuPont knew of the union’s complaints of dangerous conditions, “but either tried to avoid their existence or their seriousness or tried to avoid their being investigated by a trained expert as the union has requested.” USW gained access in 2005 and is currently evaluating violations observed during the tour.
“Safety has been a paramount concern for the union especially because of three major incidences in the last two years,” said USW Local 4-5025 president Marty Freeburg. “DuPont can’t continue to try to hide our concerns.”
Go to the USW DuPont Accountability Project website, www.DuPontSafetyRevealed.org, to view the pictures.