occupational safety
The Pump Handle
Tag archives for occupational safety
New report confirms Texas’ abysmal record on construction worker safety
Posted by The Pump Handle on February 1, 2013 Texas may boast a booming construction sector, but a deeper look reveals an industry filled with wage theft, payroll fraud, frighteningly lax safety standards, and preventable injury and death. In reality, worker advocates say such conditions are far from the exception — instead, they’ve become the norm.
This takes the cake: Kentucky company sues coal miner who complained about safety problems
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on January 29, 2013 HuffPo’s Dave Jamieson writes this week about a Kentucky worker who raised concerns about safety problems at Armstrong Coal, was fired for doing so and complained about it to the Labor Department, and is now being sued by his former employer for making his claim.
Repeat violators of mine safety rules targeted in new Labor Dept regulation
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on January 23, 2013 The Labor Department’s MSHA issued a new regulation this week targeting employers that have an egregious pattern of violating mine safety and health standards.
Demands for safer working conditions, fair wages drew Martin Luther King to Memphis
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on January 21, 2013 Today we commemorate the life of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. who was assassinated in Memphis, TN in April 1968. The civil rights leader was visiting Memphis to support hundreds of city sanitation workers in their demands for safer working conditions and dignity on the job.
Austin’s Construction Career Center providing a path toward safer, better-paying jobs
Posted by The Pump Handle on January 18, 2013 In Austin, Texas, a growing movement to transform working conditions for construction workers is underway and the new Construction Career Center is playing a pivotal role.
Precarious work arrangements deserves attention and action by new Secretary of Labor
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on January 15, 2013 The report, “At the company’s mercy,” should serve as the new Secretary of Labor’s roadmap to improve working conditions for temporary and other precarious workers.
New, first-of-its-kind Canadian study to chronicle the impact of occupational cancers
Posted by The Pump Handle on January 14, 2013 Dr. Paul Demers says he frequently finds himself having to make the case for why studying workplace exposures to carcinogens is important. Oftentimes, he says, people believe such occupational dangers are a thing of the past. But a new four-year study he’s leading could change all that.
Safety experiences of union carpenters, imagine what it’s like for the rest of them
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on December 20, 2012 A survey of more than 1,000 union carpenter apprentices describes how production pressure can compromise safety and how suffering an on-the-job injury can compromise your job security. The frank comments from workers who have the protection of a union makes me wonder how bad it must be for non-union workers.
Construction workers in central Texas successfully tie living wages to big business tax breaks
Posted by The Pump Handle on December 14, 2012 Workers in Travis County, Texas, are celebrating what advocates are calling a landmark victory, after local leaders voted to ensure that economic incentive deals benefit both big business and workers.
First-of-its-kind survey compiles the experience of domestic workers, highlights the grim nature of an unregulated industry
Posted by The Pump Handle on December 7, 2012 The collective experience of domestic workers — house cleaners, nannies and caregivers — often remains hidden from view. But a new survey has pulled back the curtain on the conditions and experiences domestic workers face, documenting issues such as wage exploitation, preventable on-the-job injuries and the little — if any — power domestic workers have in improving their work environments.