Combustible Dust
The Pump Handle
Category archives for Combustible Dust
Death on the Job report: US workers deserve better protections
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on May 8, 2013 The AFL-CIO’s “Death on the Job” report shows why U.S. workers deserve much better protections than they are getting.
Delays continue in Obama Administration on new worker safety protections
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on January 8, 2013 With five days left in calendar year 2012, the Obama Administration released its current regulatory plan and agenda, including new rules addressing health and safety hazards in workplaces. Neither OSHA nor MSHA have a good track record predicting when such rules will actually be completed.
Worker safety wishlist for Obama’s second term
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on November 7, 2012 Now that the Presidential election is over, it’s time for the Labor Department to kick into high gear expand workers’ rights and ensuring workers’ lives and health are protected. Here’s my wish list of tasks for the Labor Department to accomplish in the next 6 months:
The year in worker health & safety: action (and not) on the federal scene
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on September 6, 2012 In our new report “The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety,” we devote one section to key activities by the Obama Administration and the U.S. Congress.
“We were in shock. We only wanted to bury our son.”
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on July 18, 2012 The Washington Post’s article “Meaningless millions” captures some of the heartbreak experienced when your loved one is killed on the job, but like most things, there’s more to the story.
US chemical manufacturers just blowing smoke about burdensome worker safety regulations
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on July 17, 2012 The American Chemistry Council is making the ludicrous claim that a proposed OSHA regulation on combustible dust will negatively impact the economy and job growth. That’s a bunch of baloney. OSHA doesn’t even have combustible dust on its regulatory agenda.
If former Massey Energy is now “Running Right,” why keep secret its safety progress report?
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on July 3, 2012 Family members of the April 2010 Upper Big Branch mine disaster say they are still in the dark. The latest example is Alpha Natural Resources failure to make public a progress report required in its non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.
House Republicans say ‘nay’ to new mine safety reforms, no questions left about which side they’re on
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on June 28, 2012 Not a single Republican member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee voted in support of a resolution calling for the Committee to “consider and report legislation to improve safety and whistleblower protections for miners, and increase accountability for dangerous mine operators.” The 29 families of the Upper Big Branch miners now know who is standing with them and who is against them.
Upper Big Branch Families plead for Congressional action on mine safety
Posted by The Pump Handle on June 11, 2012 A delegation of family members who lost loved ones in Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine met with senators and representatives of both political parties to urge them to pass legislation for stronger penalties for upper-level officials who violate safety laws.
You’ve heard of ‘green-washing,’ what about fur-washing?
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on June 1, 2012 Alpha Natural Resources, which purchased Massey Energy in 2011, is publicizing it very cool mine-rescue dog name Ginny, the first of its kind in the U.S.. I can’t help but wonder though whether the promo-campaign about Ginny isn’t meant to distract us from the serious safety violations discovered in the company’s coal mines.