Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH
of Lecturer, Texas State University & Professorial Lecturer Milken Institute School of Public Health.
cmonforton
Posts by this author
March 24, 2016
This post is dedicated to J.T. Knuckles. He died in 1998 at age 58 from silicosis.
JT Knuckles, foundry worker from Saginaw, MI (1996).
I first met J.T. Knuckles in 1996. He spoke at a press event at which former Labor Secretary Robert Reich announced a national campaign to eliminate silicosis…
March 21, 2016
OSHA issued a report last week summarizing the agency’s first year of experience with its new severe injury reporting rule. During 2015, employers from 25 states reported to OSHA more than 7,600 incidents in which workers required overnight (or longer) hospitalizations, and suffered nearly 2,650…
March 17, 2016
A funny thing happened this week when President Obama’s regulatory czar, Howard Shelanski, was called to testify before Congress. The subject of the hearing: transparency at Shelanski’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). On the eve of the hearing, OIRA tried to fool us by…
March 15, 2016
Albert James Speed, 25, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Friday, March 4 while working at Gestamp in McCalla, Alabama. AL.com reports:
“…a large piece of equipment fell on the victim.”
AL.com's story was updated:
The victim “...was using a [remote-controlled] crane to move parts.”
“He became…
March 9, 2016
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) continues to make the case that consumers and contractors should stay away from paint strippers that contain methylene chloride. The CDPH’s latest effort is a 7-minute video released last week by the agency's Occupational Health Branch. It features…
March 2, 2016
Ascencion Molina Medina’s work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see the findings from South Carolina OSHA in the agency’s citations against his employer, G M Framing.
The 44 year-old was working in July 2015 at a construction project for a residential and retail development…
February 24, 2016
This week’s announcement by Allen Harim Foods offers another upsetting example of a poultry company that cares more about its chickens than its employees. The Delaware-based company broadcasted that it
“…is one of the first companies in the nation that has moved to a 100 percent vegetarian feed for…
February 23, 2016
Robert Derkacs, Jr., 45 and Joseph Donahue, 25 suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Thursday, February 18 while working at a construction project in Hanover, NJ. Press accounts indicate that the incident occurred at the location of the new Whippany Fire Department on Troy Hills Road. NJ.com reports…
February 18, 2016
Terry Leon Lakey’s work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see the findings from OSHA in the agency’s citations against his employer, Terex Services Corporation.
The 51 year-old was working in September 2015 at the firm’s plant in Waco, TX. The initial press accounts indicated…
February 15, 2016
A host of failures led to the explosion of fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate (FGAN) at the West Fertilizer Company on April 17, 2013. This disaster led to the death of 15 people. That’s what I heard during the Chemical Safety Board’s (CSB) public meeting on January 28 at which their investigation…
February 5, 2016
Consumers beware! A survey of 500 poultry-processing workers in Arkansas found that 62 percent said they have gone to work when they were sick. Why? Only 9 percent of the workers reported they had access to earned sick leave.
Have the flu? No problem. Come to work anyway and cut those chicken…
February 3, 2016
Harold Felton, 36, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Tuesday, January 26 while working at a sewer repair project in a West Seattle neighborhood. Mr. Felton’s employer was Alki Construction.
Q13Fox reports:
Mr. Felton was working inside a 10-foot deep trench which was situated between two homes.…
January 27, 2016
Whole digits, tips of fingers, and parts of a thumb. These are body parts of Tyson Foods' employees which were severed last year in 10 of the company's plants. The details are made possible by a new OSHA regulation that took effect on January 1, 2015. The regulation requires employers to report…
January 26, 2016
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) regulation which is designed to better protect coal miners from developing black lung disease. The MSHA regulation was issued in April 2014, and shortly thereafter, the…
January 21, 2016
Kevin Purpura, 39, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Friday, January 15 while working at major renovation project in Wheeling, WV. His employer was Sandow Development.
The (Wheeling) Investigator reports:
Mr. Purpura “fell several stories while working inside the former Boury Warehouse."…
January 14, 2016
There are many things I am thankful for about my job. One of them is being able to use the bathroom whenever (and as often) as I need. I thought about this situation when I’ve heard poultry workers mention the restrictions they face. I've also read about the problem for bus drivers and other public…
January 13, 2016
Justin “J.D.” Jorgensen, 30 suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Wednesday, January 6 while working at an excavation project in Altoona, IA. His employer was JRS Excavating. WHOTV reports:
the project was in a residential area where workers were “digging water and sewer lines.”
the incident…
January 7, 2016
**Update below (1/30/2016)
A new paper by NIOSH researchers explores the use of lung transplants for individuals with work-related pneumoconiosis, including black lung disease. Using data from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) for the period 1996-2014, Blackley and colleagues identified…
December 23, 2015
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) deserves credit for standing with worker safety and victims of egregious safety violations. The group’s Section on Chemistry voted not to move forward with the nomination of UCLA professor Patrick Harran as an AAAS fellow. They made the…
December 21, 2015
"People want to give us clothes, and that is nice, but your books give us knowledge which is true power." Those are the sentiments of Samuel Watulatsu about Hesperian’s publications on community health and prevention. He’s the founder of the Foundation for Development of Needy Communities in Mbale…
December 16, 2015
You’ve probably seen on-line the grim photos showing a construction nail embedded in a person’s skull or hand. The culprit: nail guns. In particular, those with “contact actuation triggers.” An estimated 37,000 pneumatic nail-gun related injuries are treated in US emergency rooms every year, with…
December 10, 2015
Eric McClellan, 55, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Wednesday, November 25 while working at Reynolds Metals in Chesterfield County, Virginia. WTVR reports:
Mr. McClellan was “caught in a machine.”
His widow said her husband worked for Reynolds Metals for 25 years and was a seasoned machinist.…
December 8, 2015
He was in his truck, he was out of his truck. He was in his truck, he was out of his truck.
On a recent walk in the neighborhood, I couldn’t help but notice my mailman’s pattern of work. He was in-and-out of his truck many times to bring packages up to my neighbors’ front doors.
“Lot of packages,…
December 4, 2015
The criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship concluded this week with jurors finding him guilty of conspiring to violate mine safety standards. Blankenship's Upper Big Branch coal mine was the scene of the worst US mine disaster in 40 years when 29 men were killed in a massive…
November 27, 2015
The criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship is in its eighth week. Ken Ward, Jr. of the Charleston Gazette continues to provide updates from the courtroom, but far fewer now that most of the action is behind closed doors where the jury is deliberating.
Ward explains that…
November 24, 2015
Earlier this month, a few dozen individuals and organizations submitted comments to OSHA on its proposed rule to protect beryllium-exposed workers. The lightweight and super strong metal is associated with lung cancer and causes chronic beryllium disease. I've spent some time browsing through many…
November 20, 2015
The criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship went into its seventh week. The jurors listened to the prosecution’s 27th (and final witness) and heard the defense team rest its case. Thanks to the reporting from the federal courthouse in Charleston, WV by Ken Ward Jr. and Joel Ebert…
November 13, 2015
The criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship went into its sixth week. Jurors heard from a financial expert and an FBI special agent. Thanks to the reporting from the federal courthouse by Ken Ward Jr. and Joel Ebert of the Charleston Gazette, I can share some of my favorite…
November 11, 2015
Tim Cooper, 49, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Wednesday, October 28 while working at Independence Tube in Decatur, Alabama. The Decatur-Daily reports:
"...Cooper was handling steel coils when one coil, which weighed about 6,000 pounds, fell on him."
The coil "...was held on a cart designed…
November 11, 2015
Davide Nascimento’s work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see the findings of federal OSHA in the agency’s recent citations against his employer, A. Martins and Sons Construction.
The 28 year-old was working in July 2015 at a sewer-line replacement project contracted by the…