Push your reporting of regulation stories to find the human element

A screenshot from iWatch News' "Hard Labor" series, which details health, safety and economic threats to workers.

The Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News recently launched its “Hard Labor” series looking at health, safety and economic threats to blue-collar workers. The opening story detailed  a fatal explosion that resulted in no penalties from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Jim Morris writes:

“Nick Revetta’s death did not make national headlines. No hearings were held into the accident that killed him. No one was fired or sent to jail.

Revetta was among 4,551 people killed on the job in America in 2009, carnage that eclipsed the total number of U.S. fatalities in the nine-year Iraq war. Combine the victims of traumatic injuries with the estimated 50,000 people who die annually of work-related diseases and it’s as if a fully loaded Boeing 737-700 crashed every day. Yet the typical fine for a worker death is about $7,900.”

His story notes that a “de facto quota system” can shorten federal investigations, leaving few consequences for employers.

Today’s Tip: The story isn’t the legislation.

Jim Morris

“Don’t just write about a debate over a regulation, a piece of legislation or an enforcement matter,” Jim says. “Find someone directly affected by the issue.”

Doing so makes a story relevant to people outside of Washington and makes the story much more accessible and meaningful, Jim says.

He learned of Revetta’s case through an advocate for families of fallen workers. “The circumstances surrounding the OSHA investigation seemed unusual and worth digging into,” he says. “I committed to the piece after reaching out to Nick’s wife and brother, both of whom were willing to speak at length, and after responses to my FOIA requests began to come in.”

To find OSHA violations, check the Investigative Reporters and Editors’ database of workplace injuries and fatalities. Of course, you also can search OSHA’s  site.