The State Commissioner of Labor, Lloyd Fields, was the guest speaker at the October meeting of the Altus Democrat Women. Held at the Friendship Inn Restaurant on Oct. 13 at noon, the meeting had several special guests in attendance: Dale Dunn, County Commissioner; Cary Carrell, County Commissioner; Janet S. Wright, County Treasurer; Rhonda Stepanovich, County Court Clerk; Gerald Sherrill Jr., County Assessor and his wife; David Braddock, former State Representative; and Braddock’s friend, Stuart Mayfield among others.

After lunch and club business, Lloyd Fields spoke on his job, explaining the many facets of the State Department of Labor. Just viewing the department’s web site helps a person to understand the scope of this important agency.

Asbestos Services provides more than a half dozen services concerning asbestos removal. The Safety Standards division inspects 2200 waterheaters and all boilers in the state, according to Fields. Any other steam-driven devices, such as railroads are also inspected. With the exception of Oklahoma City and Tulsa, all of the elevators in Oklahoma are inspected by the State Department of Labor.

The next time you or a loved one rides on an amusement park ride, you can thank Lloyd’s department. They inspect every permanent and mobile amusement park in the state. This inspection program has been so effective that last year, according to Fields, there were no major amusement park accidents for the first time in 20 years.

The Oklahoma State Department of Labor also maintains a state consulting source for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), called PEOSH, or Public Employee Occupational Safety Health Unit, for data collection. The Statistics and Research Division maintains information to meld with data from other states to help assess danger ratings for jobs, among other things.

Fields has helped save our tax dollars by employing wise business practices in his department. He’s saved $60,000 in state car usage alone. He and his co-workers have cut their operating budget by 37.4%. That’s good news from our state capitol.