Are we less safe?

Working on September's cover story about how to foster a culture of safety, I tripped over a statistic that says more manufacturing workers are injured off the job than on it. Consider the fact that many of these folks work in environments where safety is truly a concern and a high priority. They are given safety training and are even taught about common off-the-job hazards and offered appropriate safety equipment to use at home. I have to wonder and worry about the vast number of other people who never receive any formal hazard awareness instruction - people who spend their whole working lives in offices like mine where workplace safety hazards are never given a thought beyond desk-chair adjustments and keyboarding ergonomics (well, maybe the occasional gun-toting, revenge-seeking reader or former editor"¦). With fewer Americans gaining industrial safety and hazard awareness training and experience, it's no wonder there's so much footage for America's Funniest Home Videos and YouTube, and so much fodder for the Darwin awards.