If Ray Ring’s massive and authoritative opus on death in the West’s oil and gas fields didn’t convince you that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is a toothless watchdog, you might want to read this AP story, which shows Wyoming and Montana to have the worst workplace safety records in the country. Here’s the operative quote from Kim Floyd, AFL-CIO executive secretary for Wyoming:

“In some instances fines are only $1,000 or $2,000 to a company for a fatality. That’s just a drop in the bucket in reality to these big corporations. It’s cheaper to kill people than it is to put on safety programs.”

And if you still don’t think OSHA needs some reform — and a whole new crop of top managers — take a look at this quote from the New York Times recent story on OSHA’s tendency to play footsie with the industries it is supposed to be regulating:

“The people at OSHA have no interest in running a regulatory agency,” said Dr. David Michaels, an occupational health expert at George Washington University who has written extensively about workplace safety. “If they ever knew how to issue regulations, they’ve forgotten. The concern about protecting workers has gone out the window.”