Workplace safety: Fine against ballclub justified

Re: “Fine against Rainiers goes over the top,” (TNT, 1/17).

The News Tribune Editorial Board calls it needlessly harsh for Labor & Industries to levy a large fine against the Tacoma Rainiers for letting their employees cavort on Cheney Stadium roof without fall protection.

After all, this was a first infraction; and you said such punishment should be reserved for businesses with a history of ignored safety warnings.

But sending a message that a first infraction will only result in light wrist-slapping undermines any sense of urgency about workplace safety.

Severe accidents aren’t on some schedule that waits for a business to amass a history of safety violations. It could be that first infraction that’s fatal.

Columnist Matt Driscoll’s mild ridicule of L&I's intensive investigation is also misplaced. While a newspaper reporter probably feels comfortable speaking out if an assignment seems dangerous, not all workers are in that comfortable position.

L&I’s consistent and robust message that every business must know the rules and always follow them helps keep all workers safe, no matter where they work.

L&I has a good track record. Washington has one of the lowest rates of workplace fatalities in the nation.