American Workforce

Tables 27-1 to 27-3 have concentrated on the personnel makeup of control agencies. For a broader look at places of employment. Table 27-4 shows where 8037 members of the Air Pollution Control Association (APCA) of the United States and Canada worked in 1982. (This list includes foreign as well as domestic members of APCA but does not include the membership of the air pollution control associations of other countries.) This table shows that only 10.7% of the members work in control agencies. This table gives a somewhat distorted picture because in many air pollution organizations only the senior executive, professional, and scientific personnel belong to APCA, whereas the total North American workforce in air pollution includes several times the 8037 membership total who are in junior, technical, service, or manual sectors and are not association members. These numbers could be still greater if those engaged in this work outside North America were included. The Air Pollution Control Association changed its name to the Air and Waste Management Association in 1988. The Air and Waste Management Association had a membership of over 14,000 in 1993, but only a portion of the members were active in the air pollution profession.

Like much of the rest of the American workforce, computational chemists are increasingly experiencing multiple job changes during in their professional careers. 

In seeking a creative solution for this bedrock issne within the safety and health profession, we need to search inward to determine whether or not we are truly a profession or simply a collection of individuals performing the same or similar job functions within the American workforce. Although governmental involvement to establish mandatory educational requironents, mandatory testing requirements, mandatory licensure and enforcement of a code of professional conduct and ethics has been offered, is there a better way to truly create and maintain safety and health as a recognized profession The ball is in your court. 

Acquire an understanding of the issues involved in the aging of the American workforce. 

Cavico, F. J. and Mujtaba, B. G. Discrimination and the Aging American Workforce Legal Analysis and Management Strategies, Nova Southwestern University, Journal of Legal Issues and Cases in Business, 1, 2009. 

With the aging American workforce, safety professionals should be cognizant of the various laws that impact retirement, insurance, protection of medical information, and related areas. Safety professionals often encounter issues that are impacted by these laws and, in many cases, have direct responsibility for such areas as state workers compensation administration, management of medical records, and management of health insurance programs. 

Safety professionals should be aware of the graying of the American workforce and the impact of this aging on not only the safety function but also the laws governing this employee group. As of the turn of the century, there were about 7 elderly persons for every 100 persons 18 to 64 years. By 1982, that ratio was almost 19 elderly persons per 100 persons of working age. By 2000, that ratio is expected to increase to 21 per 100 and then surge to 38 per 100 by 2050. Safety professionals should be aware of the various laws that directly or indirectly impact the safety function, as well as the employees and the protections and benefits earned through their work activities. 

The American workforce is changing. Taking a very broad and generalized view of the entirety of Generation Y, there are many unique characteristics of your current... 

You might ask, How big is the problem The only way to convey this is to provide some of the numbers, which depict the enormity and magnitude of the injuries, illnesses, and deaths, and their impact on the American workforce. Seldom is any company or industry free from being a part of one of these statistics. 

As an employer it is critical that you understand how Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) works, achieves its mission, and strives to protect the American workforce. OSHA can be an ally or a thorn in yonr side, depending on your approach to job safety and health. 

The financial impact of pain is considered to be significant. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimated that the cost of low back pain alone was between 50 billion and 100 billion per year.12 The American Productivity Audit of the United States workforce, conducted from 2001 to 2002, revealed that the cost of lost productivity due to arthritis, back pain, headache, and other musculoskeletal pain was approximately 80 billion per year.13... 

When asked if there is a need to increase the representation of African Americans in chemistry, especially in the context of the supply and demand debate, 98% of the interviewees answered affirmatively. Most interviewees cited the following reasons (1) untapped talent pool (2) need for the acquisition of technical skills to be competitive in the twenty-first century workforce (3) highly respected field (4) future leaders for a global economy (5) need for a critical mass to serve as more diversity and (6) need for mentors and role models. Illustrative comments are presented below. 

Bordieri, C. (1991, May). A manly profession Women in chemistry. Workforce Report. Washington, DC American Chemical Society. 

This book is organized in seven major chapters. The first chapter addresses the historical presence of African Americans in the chemistry community. The second chapter discusses the demographic characteristics of the responding chemists. The third focuses on the interviewees educational experiences. The fourth chapter discusses workforce-related issues. The fifth chapter discusses professional activities, while the sixth chapter focuses on racial attitudes. The final chapter discusses the implications of the findings for policy and research. 

The next significant change is a well-defined trend toward earlier retirement. For example, in 1948, 50 percent of American men age 65 and older were actively engaged in the workforce. By 2005, this number had dropped to 13.8% and is projected to rise to around 15.2% by 2010. 

The historical background for minority participation in the workforce is best documented for African Americans. For example, as late as 1987, African Americans made up less than one percent of all U.S. citizens who earned a Ph.D. in chemistry. This fraction has increased over the last decade, but for the year of 1999, of the 2,134 Ph.D.s awarded in chemistry in the United States, only 56 went to African Americans. 

The growth and success of the chemistry department in preparing African American women for the workforce, graduate school, and professional school were phenomenal during the next 20 years. A summary of this productivity in the department is evident most notably during the five-year growth period between 1993 and 1997 as summarized in Table 3.2.3... 

Another key question is, What exactly is the problem The problem is the dearth of diversity in the workforce. One example is the fact that only 18 African Americans and only 22 Latinos are currently employed in chemistry faculty positions by the top 50 institutions as ranked in a recent National Science Foundation (NSF) study. The top 50 institutions have been defined as those receiving the most governmental or private research funds available to academia. It does not mean that these are the best institutions it just means that they are getting the most funds. The net effect of these statistics is that we are averaging less than one African American or Latino per each one of these institutions. Thus the numbers are small. 

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