Georgetown University Launches Center Linking Business, Public Policy; Workplace Safety To Be First Focus

2/28/2002

From: Erich Parker, 202-478-6153, Dr. John Mayo, 202-687-6972, or Eileen Secrest, 202-478-6136, esecrest@mrss.com; all for the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 -- Workplace safety initiatives received a substantial boost today, as The McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University announced that it has established a Center for Business and Public Policy, the initial focus of which will be workplace safety. The center is the culmination of nine months work following the Workplace Safety Summit in 2001, which brought together corporations, nonprofits, government, labor, activists, and academia to debate the many facets of workplace safety and explore ways to make it a national priority.

"Workplace safety as an issue needs visibility and research to make it real for policy makers," said Professor John Mayo, PhD, director of the Center for Business and Public Policy. "At the center, we will provide the research, the education, and the visibility that is required to help business and public policymakers better focus on finding solutions to this serious national problem."

Nearly 6,000 employees are killed every year on the job in the United States. Almost 6 million work-related injuries and illnesses are reported in U.S. workplaces every year. These injuries and fatalities cost American industry and taxpayers at least $170 billion a year in lost productivity, lost wages, and compensation.

Christopher P. Puto, dean of the McDonough School of Business, and Dr. Mayo made the announcement at Georgetown University. They were joined by a number of top-level officials from the spectrum of stakeholders for whom workplace safety is a pressing concern: James A. Forsman, president, Dupont Safety Resources; Kenneth A. Hulik, director, Global Common Process, Health and Safety, General Motors Corporation; Arturo Rodriguez, president, United Farm Workers; R. Davis Layne, deputy assistant secretary, U.S. Department of Labor - OSHA; Ron Hayes, founder and director, The FIGHT Project, a grassroots activist organization; and Bobby Jackson, vice president, National Programs, National Safety Council.

The Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy has set an ambitious agenda for itself, and has committed to the following activities: -- Hosting an annual Workplace Safety Summit; -- Providing a clearinghouse of safety information, including web-based resources; -- Hosting seminars and conferences on workplace safety, including a Seminar Series on Business Ethics focused on workplace safety; -- Establishing a graduate-level MBA course on workplace safety; and -- Developing an executive workplace safety education program at the Center.

Calls for the establishment of the Center reached a crescendo after Georgetown's McDonough School of Business hosted a Workplace Safety Summit last year -- the first national event of its kind. Members of a workplace health and safety leadership group that grew out of the Summit and continues to be hosted by the Center have announced the formation of a national declaration on workplace safety. The declaration commits a variety of organizations to work together on ways to increase workplace safety efforts across the country. The second Annual Workplace Safety Summit will be held at the Center for Business and Public Policy on April 11 and 12, 2002.