Park Service invites OSHA to help with safety

In an "unprecedented move," the National Park Service has asked the Occupational Safety and health Administration to help it improve worker-safety conditions at 10 national parks, including Yosemite in California and Rock Creek Park in the District of Columbia.

Richard Powell, chief of the NPS Division of Risk Management, said the agency has a "can-do" attitude in which accidents are considered part of the working environment. Common hazards include snakebites, avalanches, hypothermia and "garden-variety slips, trips and falls." Overall, the NPS rate of injury and illness at its 375 parks "far exceeds the average in the federal government," the Washington Post reports.

NPS Director Robert Stanton: "Our employees are getting hurt on the job in record numbers. I am determined to turn this terrible trend around."

Under the joint program with OSHA, NPS employees will create a risk-management program, fix unsafe conditions and comply with OSHA standards, and train managers in safety and health. Lessons learned at the 10 parks will serve as a model for others (Cindy Skrzycki, Washington Post, 11/6).