Mead promises to improve workplace safety

Gov. Matt Mead says he will implement recommendations from a new report focused on improving safety for workers.

Wyoming has one of the nation’s highest rates of workplace fatalities, and the governor recently commissioned a study to figure out why.

The report found that more than 85 percent of deadly workplace accidents in Wyoming happened when safety procedures weren’t followed. It concluded that the state needs to develop a centralized database to track workplace injuries and fatalities, coordinate efforts between agencies and industry to develop tougher safety standards, and encourage more OSHA inspections.

Mead agrees that Wyoming’s worker safety record isn’t good enough.

“I think finding ways to make sure every worker gets home safe at the end of the day is critical for Wyoming,” he said.

Mead says the recommendations in the report are a good first step and that systemic change is needed.