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Tag archives for OSHA
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.
A different kind of Texas-style justice: Two nights at Austin’s Workers Defense Project
Posted by The Pump Handle on August 31, 2012 It’s Tuesday evening and as usual, the small parking lot outside the Workers Defense Project on Austin’s eastside is packed. The dusty lot is strewn with cars and pick-up trucks parked wherever they can fit and get in off the road. I’ve arrived well before the night’s activities begin, so I easily secure a spot. But my gracious guide and translator, a college intern named Alan Garcia, warns me that I might get blocked in. It happens all the time, he says.
No shortage of ideas from OSHA staff to improve oversight of agency’s Voluntary Protection Program
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on August 22, 2012 An internal OSHA report on the agency’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) was submitted to agency leadership nine months ago, and released to the public this week. The group made 34 recommendations to improve the program, including several addressing fatalities occurring at VPP sites.
Worker falls 70+ feet to his death at ConAgra mill, another at a Pepisco plant, manlifts involved in both cases
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on August 15, 2012 Three multi-national corporations. Three workers dead from manlift incidents. Preventing more deaths from manlifts requires comprehensive fatality investigations.
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.
Houston, we have a workers’ rights problem: Profile of a worker justice center in Texas’ biggest city
Posted by The Pump Handle on July 9, 2012 Last month, more than 70 ironworkers walked off an ExxonMobil construction site near Houston, Texas. The workers, known as rodbusters in the industry, weren’t members of a union or backed by powerful organizers; they decided amongst themselves to unite in protest of unsafe working conditions in a state that has the highest construction worker fatality rate in the country.
Researchers challenge Labor Dept to fix its annual count of injuries, misses 70% of work-related burns
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on June 27, 2012 Researchers at Michigan State University offer more evidence that the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual estimate of occupational injury and illnesses grossly misses the mark on the actual count of work-related health harm. How many more studies are needed before the Secretary of Labor addresses the problem?
OSHA and NIOSH issue hazard alert for silica exposure in fracking operations
Posted by The Pump Handle on June 22, 2012 Following reports of high levels of worker exposure to crystalline silica due to the extensive use of sand at hydrofracking operations, two agencies that focus on occupational health have issued a hazard alert urging employers to protect workers from this respiratory hazard.
Occupational Health News Roundup
Posted by Liz Borkowski on June 18, 2012 A stagehand’s death is a grim reminder of hazards in the theater; it takes OSHA an average of nearly eight years to issue a new standard; and a federal decision clears the way for 50 cancers to be added to the list of WTC-related diseases eligible for compensation and treatment.
Public health officials urge USDA to withdraw plan to “modernize” poultry inspection, worker and food safety will suffer
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on May 31, 2012 The Obama Administration’s quest to appease businesses’ claims about burdensome regulations awoke a giant in the form of the civil rights, public health and workers’ safety communities. From the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Council of LaRaza, to the American Public Health Association, the feedback on USDA’s proposal to “modernize” the poultry inspection process is loud and clear: scrap the idea because faster line speeds will take a grave toll on poultry plant workers.