90 years after 'Lunch Atop a Skyscraper,' are workers any safer?

Many of us have seen the iconic 1932 photograph, “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper.” Taken during the construction of the building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, it shows 11 workers casually eating lunch on a steel beam 850 feet above ground, with no harnesses or safety provisions. The photograph, which was actually a publicity stunt, is iconic for various reasons: Some celebrate it as embodying the spirit of our country’s workers and their contributions to building our cities. Others may find it shocking: the courage of the workers, the danger they faced and the appalling lack of measures to ensure their physical well-being. 

Modern Americans think we’ve moved beyond such scenarios. And workplaces in general have become far safer since then, especially after the Occupational Safety and Health Act, or OSHA, passed in 1970 (the AFL-CIO estimates that nearly 690,000 lives have been saved by that law.) But too many workers are still killed or hurt on the job: In 2022, there were more than 100 workplace fatalities each week, and even more—2.8 million workers—injured or sickened. Longstanding risks haven’t disappeared, either. The construction industry still has the highest rate of fatalities, including six immigrant workers killed in the Frances Scott Key bridge collapse in Baltimore last month.

At the same time, emerging developments—from climate change to workplace uses of technology—have created less obvious but equally potent new dangers. Some of today’s most deadly workplace hazards don’t look like those of yesteryear. Although it’s not widely known, April 28, this past weekend, was Workers’ Memorial Day, a time to consider how to do more to keep workers safe amidst changing circumstances. One answer includes more state and local action on workplace safety and health.

Extreme weather events and excessive heat have had dire effects for workers. In 2021, 14 workers were killed when tornadoes hit a Kentucky candle factory and an Illinois Amazon warehouse. Severe heat has killed hundreds of workers and is especially acute in industries like agriculture and construction, as well as other outdoor jobs. Eugene Gates, a U.S. Postal Service worker with 36 years on the job, died last summer in Dallas from heat stroke; the heat index that day reached 113 degrees.

New technology applications at work also cause harm. Amazon’s production quotas and algorithmic monitoring of workers have been attributed to serious injury rates nearly double those at other warehouses. A study found that 41% of Amazon warehouse workers have been injured on the job. So called “gig” corporations like Lyft and Uber argue that their workers are not employees covered by workplace safety and workers’ compensation laws. As a result, the companies don’t safeguard workers’ security (it was just this month that Uber began a system of passenger verification in a few cities). And when drivers are killed on the job (as more than 50 were during a recent five-year period), their spouses and dependents don’t receive survivors’ benefits and are typically left with no support from companies. 

State and local governments can play a meaningful role in keeping workers safe, through new policies, enforcement and public leadership. In fact, while federal OSHA is the most prominent player in this area, states have the option to create their own OSHA-approved programs, called “state plans,” and take over the function, which around half of states have done. And even where there is no state plan, OSHA preemption is limited: As long as there is no OSHA “standard” (or rule) about a specific workplace hazard, state and local governments may act.

Some states and localities have already enacted trailblazing policies to protect workers from new workplace risks. For example, several states have enacted policies on workplace heat that are pretty basic and common sense: People need water, rest, shade and gradual acclimatization—something every parent who’s taken children to the beach on a hot day would know. More states—all of them—should follow suit. Cities can also take action: Phoenix in March enacted a heat ordinance, requiring city contractors and subcontractors (including construction and airport workers) to protect outdoor workers from heat.

As for extreme weather, California law, for example, protects workers from retaliation if they have evacuated because of wildfires; and a Miami-Dade County law prohibits retaliation against nonessential workers who have followed evacuation orders during an emergency (although a recent statewide preemption law may call that ordinance’s current status into question).

Similarly, states including California, New York, and Washington have passed laws regulating production quotas by warehouses and large distribution centers. Washington’s law, for instance, takes effect on July 1 of this year and requires employers to provide workers with information about quotas. In addition, employers must ensure that quotas incorporate time for meal, rest and bathroom breaks, and that quotas allow workers to have a safe and healthful workplace.

In addition to enacting policies, state and local governments should take action to enforce workplace safety protections. In 2022, OSHA had enough inspectors to audit covered workplaces once every 190 years. In other words, resources at the federal level are grossly insufficient, making state and local action more urgent.

State and local prosecutors can also play a part, by bringing criminal charges against businesses that recklessly cause worker deaths or endanger worker safety. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, for example, recently indicted a company that allegedly falsely certified a sham workplace safety training school that falsely certified around 20,000 workers as having received training.

We also need to make it easier for workers to form and join unions, which identify workplace hazards and improve workplace safety. Indeed, some VW workers in this month’s landslide election for the United Auto Workers in Chattanooga cited workplace safety as a motivating factor. Because of preemption by the National Labor Relations Act, there is a more limited role for states and localities in this area, but elected officials can at the very least lend their public support to organizing efforts. 

When we see farmworkers or hardhats in the blazing sun on a 100-degree day, it somehow doesn’t provoke the same visceral reaction as that long-ago lunch atop a skyscraper. But those workers are facing the same risk. They deserve so much better than our current paltry response, and state and local governments can play a meaningful role in helping this happen.