CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State workplace safety inspectors conducted "63 proactive investigations" between August 1990 and August 1995, said John Thompson, a field organizer for West Virginia Public Workers Union UE Local 170, based in Charleston.

But since then, the West Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Administration has initiated no routine safety inspections of state offices and other workplaces.

Thompson based his conclusions on documents he recently received from the state Division of Labor, under a Freedom of Information Act request.

After WVOSHA was created in 1987, the Legislature never provided state funding to hire safety inspectors and finance workplace inspections.

"West Virginia government is the state's largest employer," Thompson said. "But the state can't guarantee a safe workplace."

Federal safety inspectors cannot initiate inspections of state workplaces, Thompson pointed out.

"But the state could create a program that would be 50 percent funded by the federal government," Thompson said.

Most of the 63 inspections between 1990 and 1995 were conducted at facilities housing workers for the Department of Highways and the Department of Health and Human Resources.

Other inspections were made at places including the Ritchie County Recycling Center in Ellenboro, Pipestem State Park in Summers County, Glenville State College, a Division of Motor Vehicles office in Teays and Welch Emergency Hospital in McDowell County.

"But there were never any citations issued," Thompson said. "And no governor ever appointed a Review Commission, which is required under the 1987 law."

Jennifer Burgess, safety director for the state's Division of Labor, said, "John Thompson filed an FOIA request, asking for copies of all inspection reports and safety complaints.

"It took a while for us to get it all together. We've kept everything since I came here in 1992. And there were also previous files.

"Some of the documents are complaints. Some are requests from agencies for assistance," Burgess said.

Many of the complaints concerned bad indoor air circulation.

"But our program has never been funded," Burgess said. "Since the program is not funded, we don't have a staff. We don't have travel money. We don't have any equipment.

"We work with staff we borrow from [the federal] Occupational Health and Safety Administration. They are funneled through the U.S. Department of Labor and [the federal] OSHA," she said.

Thompson also pointed out the state OSHA has no jurisdiction over working conditions of county and municipal employees.

One document discussed a 1995 Division of Labor "courtesy safety/health inspection" at Keyser's City Hall, conducted at the request of Keyser Mayor Keith Haywood.

State inspectors discovered 13 problems, according to an Oct. 3, 1995, letter that Burgess sent Haywood, including roof leaks promoting the growth of molds and bacteria, inadequate circulation of indoor air, gas fumes entering the building from heating units and poor electrical wiring.

"As I explained to you during our phone conversation in which you requested the inspection," Burgess added, "the Division of Labor has no jurisdiction in municipalities, and this inspection was performed strictly as a courtesy to investigate air quality concerns voiced by city employees."

The documents released also included reports of three young workers killed in a maintenance building that caught fire at Canaan Valley State Park in 1988, a highway worker struck by a flying metal object while cutting brush near Montgomery in 1991, a man operating a tractor at Reymann Memorial Farm in Wardensville in 1991, and a West Virginia University employee who fell from a roof in 2007.

Last year, UE Local 170 represented DHHR employees who complained of air circulation problems inside their buildings in Princeton and Point Pleasant.

"A state OSHA reform bill introduced in the House of Delegates would put some teeth in the agency," Thompson said. "Hopefully, it would get approval from the U.S. Department of Labor and could get 50 percent of its funding from the feds.

"We hope the Legislature will hold hearings and conduct a study of West Virginia OSHA later this year.

"We have not given up on the hope they will consider our legislation and pass a bill giving real protection to state, county and municipal employees," Thompson said.

Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjny...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.