Confined Space @ TPH
sb admin | October 3, 2007Earlier this week, reports on two recent studies provided more evidence that workersâ health has a significant effect on employers.
One study tallied the work days lost to chronic conditions; mental disorders accounted for roughly one third (1.3 billion) of the missed days, and back and neck pain for another third (1.2 billion).
The other study found that employees who got aggressive intervention for depression worked about two weeks more during the yearlong study than those who got the standard advice and were more likely to still be employed at the end of the year. Early analysis indicates…
sb admin | October 3, 2007Five employees of RPI Coatings were killed on Tuesday at the Xcel Energy Inc's(NYSE: XEL) Cabin Creek Station hydroelectric plant, located about 30 miles from Denver, CO. The deceased workers were part of a contract maintenance crew which were applying a specialized epoxy coating onto the inside of a 3,000 feet-long (and 4-feet wide) water pipe. A fire erupted, with four RPI contractors able to escape it. Â
 The Denver Post is reporting that the five deceased workers had:
"last communicated by radio about 30 minutes after the fire broke out, and reported no injuries, but they…
sb admin | September 28, 2007The Senate HELP Committee is holding a hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 2 on "Current Mine Safety Disasters: Issues and Challenges." The witness list includes the same familiar faces from MSHA, NIOSH, the UMWA and National Mining Association, but the Committee has also invited two "newcomers" to these mine safety hearings. One is former MSHA engineer Robert Ferriter (now with the Colorado School of Mines), who received some publicity in the wake of the Crandall Canyon disaster when he was critical of MSHA's approval of the Murray Energy's mining plan. The other is Joseph Osterman of the…
sb admin | September 28, 2007While the House of Representatives was voting Wednesday to approve the Popcorn Workers Lung Disease Prevention Act (here), OSHA's Assistant Secretary Edwin Foulke had just mailed a letter rejecting a petition from a group of workersâ who'd asked for emergency protection from the respiratory hazards caused by butter-flavoring agents.  Mr. Foulkeâs response is not only tardy---it took them 14 months to write a 5-page letter---but its content is insulting.  âI assure you that OSHA takes the concerns you expressed very seriously," he writes. Oh, please. Your meager actions to protect…
sb admin | September 27, 2007Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) explaining his opposition to H.R. 2693, the Popcorn Workers Lung Disease Prevention Act, which would require OSHA to protect workers from breathing toxic chemicals used in artificial butter flavor:
"If there's something wrong with popcorn, how did Orville Redenbacher live so long?"
sb admin | September 26, 2007The big news is that the House passed the Popcorn Workers Lung Disease Prevention Act, as David reports below. In other occupational health and safety news:
China Daily: A fire in a coal mine shaft has killed three miners and trapped 15 more.
Occupational Health & Safety: South Carolinaâs OSHA has assessed more than $42,000 in penalties against the Charleston fire department and the owner of a furniture store where nine firefighters died fighting a blaze in June.
Sacramento Bee: Since California launched a campaign to address on-the-job heat stress, inspections have increased and heat-…
sb admin | September 24, 2007By David Michaels
Later this week, the House of Representatives will vote on H.R. 2693 -- The Popcorn Workers Lung Disease Prevention Act. Now is the moment to let your Member of Congress know how important it is for them to support the legislation.
Popcorn Workers Lung is a case study in regulatory failure. As we've written many times here, OSHA has ignored this deadly hazard for far too long. At least three workers have died and dozens more have developed irreversible lung disease as a result of exposure to diacetyl.
H.R. 2693 would give OSHA 90 days to issue an interim final standard that…
sb admin | September 19, 2007Ground Zero workers are still in the news. Last week, a House Panel heard from Dr. Philip Landrigan of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine about the illnesses these workers suffer from. Earlier this week, several members of New York's Congressional delegation introduced the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which would would establish a long-term program to provide a broad range of physical and mental health services to Ground Zero workers.
In other news:
Charleston Gazette: According to new federal data, black lung disase rates in U.S. coal miners have doubled over the last…
sb admin | September 13, 2007On March 23, 2005 a series of explosions ripped through BPâs Texas City refinery. The disaster claimed the lives of 15 and injured many more. (You can read some of the press coverage here and here.)
Here are a few interesting tidbits fresh from the courtroom where BP lawyers are working to discredit the claims of four workers injured in the blast. These particular cases are the first to reach the courtroom, as at least 1350 of 3000 claims filed against BP have been settled behind closed doors.
In case anyone had any doubts that BP knew of warning signs, read on.
Back in March, I wrote about…
sb admin | September 13, 2007One of the benefits of blogging at The Pump Handle is connecting with people who have first-hand experience with our nation's inadequate public health protection system. We've heard from parents and wives who appreciate us writing about their loved ones' fatal on-the-job injuries, and federal employees who share their unique experiences with how scientific information is used (or misused) in public health decision-making. Today, I'd like to introduce you to Mrs. Patty Sebok, who I first "met" a few months ago through a blogpost at Gristmill. We've been exchanging emails since then about…
sb admin | September 12, 2007The anniversary of the 9/11 attacks yesterday highlighted the health problems that many rescue, recovery, and cleanup workers and volunteers are facing. Articles in the New York Times, Newsday, and the New York Sun highlighted workers whoâve developed severe disease over the past six years and lawmakersâ proposals to address the surge in illnesses. Also, if you didnât see it yesterday, David Michaelsâs post here explains how the government has developed special compensation programs in the past and advises how it should proceed in addressing 9/11-related health problems.
On 9/11/07, OSHA…
sb admin | September 9, 2007By David Michaels
The popcorn festival has just ended in Marion, Ohio (nickname: âpopcorn capital of the worldâ), attended by more than 100,000 revelers. The Orville Redenbacher Parade is one of the festivalsâ highlights. Redenbacher, who developed the hybrid corn strain that pops so uniformly, was actually from Indiana, but ConAgra Foods manufactures the best selling microwave popcorn brand âOrville Redenbacherâsâ (along with Act II brand) at its factory in Marion.
I didnât get to the festival, but you can be sure that there was a lot of talk about the first reported case of âpopcorn lungâ…
sb admin | September 5, 2007Workers who manufacture microwave popcorn for ConAgra and Pop Weaver will soon be able to breathe easier, since both companies have announced that they will stop using diacetyl to flavor their popcorn. Other workers â including those who make flavorings, baked goods, and other companiesâ microwave popcorn â may still be exposed to the artificial butter flavoring chemical.
Other occupational health and safety news this week includes:
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Salt Lake Tribune: At a Senate Subcommittee hearing, Mine Safety and Health Administration Director Richard Stickler testified that MSHA did not know about a…
sb admin | September 5, 2007With summer vacation over and school back in session, my thoughts naturally turn to homework, term papers and due dates. Perhaps if Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and OSHA's Asst. Secretary Edwin Foulke viewed their responsibilities to the nation's workers like students with homework assignments, they'd take more responsibility for completely their assignments well and on time. Right now, OSHA (and the Secretary) seem to treat deadlines like those students who never show up for class, and then expect the teacher to give them an extension.
A few months ago, Mrs. Chao and…
sb admin | September 3, 2007For those of us fortunate enough to have Labor Day off from work, itâs a good time to remember all the workers who canât take a day off because we rely so heavily on them: hospital staff, police officers, bus drivers, power-company workers, and many others. Then, there are the retail and restaurant workers who clock in on federal holidays because their employers know that many of us will observe Labor Day by going shopping or out to eat.
We owe our current lifestyle not only to the workers who keep us supplied with food, electricity, transportation, healthcare, and other necessities, but to…
sb admin | August 31, 2007by Celeste MonfortonÂ
Yesterday in "MSHA Spokesman Parrots Bob Murray," I wrote about MSHA's rejection of a request by the families of the six trapped Crandall Canyon miners to have the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) serve as the miners' representative during MSHA's investigation of the disaster. As usual for me, about two hours after hitting the "print post" button, I realized I should have said this and I should have said that. Oh the glories of blogging! Here's what came to me after hitting the "print post" button:
I was irked by MSHA's spokesman Dirk Fillpot saying the …
sb admin | August 30, 2007by Celeste MonfortonÂ
Max Follmer of The Huffington Post reports that MSHA has rebuffed a request from the Crandall Canyon families to designate the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) to serve as their representative during MSHA's formal accident investigation.Â
"In a statement e-mailed to The Huffington Post, MSHA spokesman Dirk Fillpot defended the agency's actions, saying federal officials have spent 'untold hours' briefing the families of the missing miners. We are disappointed that the UMWA is trying to use a law enforcement investigation for its own purposes."
Hmmm. Where…
sb admin | August 29, 2007The Mountain Eagle's Tom Bethell recounts a 1986 coal mining disaster in Queensland, Australia which involved an explosion in an abandoned, sealed area which caused the death of 12 miners. Its similarities to the 2006 Sago tragedy end there because, as Bethell writes:
In the wake of that disaster, the Australian government launched an innovative program to spur development of through-the-earth communication and tracking technology. Australian coal producers agreed to assess themselves a per-ton fee, with the revenues used by the government to support companies---mostly small…
sb admin | August 29, 2007More distressing news related to Ground Zero keeps coming out. A probe has been launched into the Deutsche Bank building fire that killed two firefighters on August 18th; community leaders are criticizing the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation for hiring a demolition subcontractor with insufficient experience and numerous city and federal violations listed against it. The building pipe that was supposed to supply the firefighter with water had been turned off.
Also, findings released by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene show that Ground Zero rescue and recovery…
sb admin | August 28, 2007During one of Mr. Bob Murray's endless television appearances, he was asked why his underground coal mine in Illinois had received more than 900 safety and health violations last year. In his "I'm just a humble coal miner" kind-of-way, he tried to explain that the public just doesn't understand that getting written up by a mine inspector is commonplace, and most of those 900 violations were for trivial items like not having toilet paper in the restrooms.
Oh really? I reviewed all 975 violations cited in 2006 at Murray Energy's coal mine in Galatia, Illinois, and only 3 of the 975…