Confined Space @ TPH
sb admin | August 28, 2009High Country News investigated worker deaths in dairy operations in Western states, and found that at least 18 people died between 2003 and 2009. (See their list of injuries and deaths for details.) Rebecca Claren explains:
They were killed in tractor accidents, suffocated by falling hay bales, crushed by charging cows and bulls and asphyxiated by gases from manure lagoons and corn silage. Others survived but lost limbs or received concussions and spent days in the hospital. However, it's difficult to form an accurate picture of the dangers lurking in dairies because the data are incomplete.…
sb admin | August 21, 2009by Richard Denison, PhDÂ cross-posted from blogs.edf
In June, EPA published a Federal Register notice that included Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) for two carbon nanotubes (as well as 21 other chemicals). That notice certainly got the attention of lawyers in town (see here, here and here). The nanotube SNURs would require anyone planning to produce or process either of the two substances to notify EPA if the person intended not to comply with the (rather limited) risk management conditions specified by EPA. Well, as reported yesterday by Sara Goodman of E&E News, EPA is now…
sb admin | August 21, 2009Three physicians and researchers from the Capital University of Medical Sciences (Beijing, China) have published a case report in the European Respiratory Journal describing severe lung disease in seven female workers employed at a shop where they applied polyacrylic coatings to polystyrene boards. The lung disease is just one part of the story---two of the women died (ages 19 and 29)---the other part is that pathology samples from the workers' lungs identified 30 nm (nanometer) in diameter particles. Further investigation found that the coatings used by the workers contained nano…
sb admin | August 20, 2009An Institute of Medicine task force responsible for recommending protections for healthcare workers from the swine flu/H1N1 virus held a meeting last week, and CIDRAP reporters were there. Robert Roos reports that the first day focused on the efficacy of surgical masks and N95 respirators in shielding healthcare workers from respiratory illness:
The IOM panel learned, for example, that N95 respiratorsâwhether fit-tested or notâreduced respiratory illnesses in a recent multiple-hospital study in China, whereas surgical masks were not effective. But other studies, focusing on household…
sb admin | August 14, 2009The Washington Postâs Sholnn Freeman, noting that the last six fatal airplane accidents in the US involved regional airlines, investigated the conditions of regional air crewmembers and found that they struggle to get adequate sleep near the airports from which they fly:
At first sight, the Sterling Park house looks like an ordinary split-level, complete with carport, backyard grill and freshly mowed grass. But instead of housing a growing suburban family, it offers accommodations for 30 pilots and flight attendants struggling to string together a few precious hours of sleep.
This is a…
sb admin | August 12, 2009I'm reading a wonderful collection of public health success stories, in the collection assembled by John W. Ward and Christian Warren entitled "Silent Victories: The History and Practice of Public Health in 20th Century America"Â (Oxford, 2007.)Â Our colleagues Tony Robbins and Phil Landrigan wrote a chapter on occupational disease and injury prevention, and in it, introduce me to Sir Thomas Legge.Â
He was the UK's first medical Inspector of Factories (appointed in 1897) and he capitalized on his title and training to expose occupational hazards, propose interventions and demonstrate…
sb admin | August 12, 2009In May, the Government Accountability Office issued a critical report assessing OSHA's program for monitoring its designated Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) sites.  There are about 2,200 of these VPP site across the country which have met the written program and on-site evaluation criteria. A VPP designation exempts the worksite from programmed OSHA inspections, and if an inspection is conducted---because of a complaint, referral or fatality/catastrophe----the employer is not cited for violations if they are promptly corrected. This recent GAO report was peppered with…
sb admin | August 10, 2009In the U.S. Senate last week, between the debate and the vote on judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced S. 1580, on behalf of Senator Edward Kennedy, a bill to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. As far as I can tell, its text is nearly identical to H.R. 2067 , the bill introduced in April by Cong. Lynn Woolsey. The bills' major provisions are:
expanding OSHA coverage to the 8.5 million public sector workers (who are employed by state, county and local governments, and not covered by an OSHA…
sb admin | August 5, 2009Exactly 2-years after the disaster, the five-member U.S. Chemical Safety Board voted unanimously to adopt its final investigation report on the March 2005 catatrophic explosion at the BP Texas City. Fifteen workers were killed and 180 others were injured from the blast. Among the many disturbing findings from the CSB's investigation, was data showing that equipment operators had worked way too many shifts in a row and were fatigued, seriously fatigued.
Our investigators determined that operators involved in the startup likely were fatigued, having worked 29 straight days of 12-hour…
sb admin | August 5, 2009More than 1,200 employees at an acrylic yarn factory in Jilin City, China have reported having troubling symptoms â a list that includes nausea, dizziness, numbness, convulsions, breathing difficulties, and temporary paralysis. Workers suspect fumes from a nearby chemical factory of causing their illness, but Chinese health officials claim itâs mass hysteria. The New York Timesâ Andrew Jacobs reports:
As soon as the Jilin Connell Chemical Plant started production this spring, local hospitals began receiving stricken workers from the acrylic yarn factory 100 yards downwind from Connellâs…
sb admin | August 4, 2009by Richard Denison, cross-posted from EDF Blogs
Today, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) unveiled its "10 Principles for Modernizing TSCA."Â Â Also today, the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition - of which EDF is a member - issued a news release and unveiled its 9-point "Platform for Reform of TSCA."Â How do they line up?
I'll leave to you readers to decide just how much alignment (or lack thereof) there is between these dueling manifestos. To get the ball rolling, I'll use this post to single out three key differences.
First, however, let me say I welcome the fact that ACC is…
sb admin | August 4, 2009I'm not one to keep good news under a bushel basket, but in deference to my perception of some Labor Department protocol, I kept waiting for an official announcement.  But, the news is too good to wait any longer:Â
Secretary Solis has appointed Gregory R. Wagner, MD as the senior official at MSHA until an assistant secretary (Joe Main, nominee) is confirmed. Â
Many of us in the OHS world know Greg for his many years of service at NIOSH, including as director of the division of respiratory disease studies in Morgantown, WV, and as an active member of the American Public Health…
sb admin | August 3, 2009Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will tour the Federal No. 2 mine on Tuesday, Aug 4, one of a couple dozen mines operated by Patriot Coal. DOL's press announcement said she'd be joined by officials from MSHA, the UMWA, WV Governor Joe Manchin and Congressman Alan B. Mollohan. The event includes the tour, examining a rescue chamber on the surface and meeting:
"with miners employed by Federal # 2 for a roundtable discussion."
The Charleston Gazette's Ken Ward is reporting that journalists will not be allowed on the mine tour and canât attend the meeting with miners, but the Secretary …
sb admin | August 3, 2009This morning, I read MSHA's fatality report for the April 7 electrocution death of Tadd M. Bainum, 36. Mr. Bainum was a supervisor, and was doing electrical-related work, but had NOT received appropriate training in electrical tasks. MSHA's investigators noted:
"Failure to train [him] in performing the task constituted more than ordinary negligence and is an unwarrantable failure to comply with a mandatory safety standard."
Mr. Bainum's work-related death left behind his wife April and three children, Tristan, 12, Holly, 6 and Lacy, 3.Â
At first glance, the dredging pits where Mr.…
sb admin | July 31, 2009It's long past time to breathe some fresh air into the Department of Labor's Solicitor's Office (SOL). I was hopeful when President Obama nominated M. Patricia Smith in April to serve as the Solicitor of Labor, but since her May 7 confirmation hearing, her appointment is languishing in the Senate HELP committee. The Solicitor's Office has about 600 employees, many of whom are attorneys working in regional offices across the country, and they are supposed to help DOL agencies accomplish their missions by providing legal advice. The mission statement includes, ensuring that the
"…
sb admin | July 31, 2009by Sidney Shapiro, cross-posted from CPR Blog
On Tuesday, the White House announced the appointment of Dr. David Michaels to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). An epidemiologist and a professor at George Washington Universityâs School of Public Health and Health Services, Michaels will bring substantial expertise and experience to the job. Besides being an active health research â he studies the health effects of occupational exposure to toxic chemicals â he has also written impressively on science and regulatory policy. His book, Doubt Is Their Product: How…
sb admin | July 22, 2009Job losses donât just leave families struggling to afford their monthly expenses; in many cases, the loss of a job also means the loss of health insurance. (For those whose employers still exist and still offer health coverage, COBRA coverage is an option for up to 18 months â but you have to be able to cover the share of the premium your employer was paying, as well as your usual contribution.)
In some cases, employers are choosing to cut employeesâ hours rather than lay them off â but in that case, they may also cease to qualify for health benefits, which are often available only to full-…
sb admin | July 21, 2009Steven Cain, 32, reported to work at Massey Energy's Justice No. 1 coal mine at about 3:30 pm on Wednesday, October 8, 2008.   He never returned to his family. At about 11:00 pm that night, he died inside the mine when he was crushed between a loaded supply car and a coal rib (vertical coal wall). The Charleston Gazette's Ken Ward reports at Coal Tattoo on the results of MSHA's investigation, including how
"...Massey and the contractor that employed Cain, Mountaineer Labor Solution, received just a tiny slap on the wrist from MSHA. Federal regulators did not cite either company.…
sb admin | July 20, 2009Last fall, Mr. Rosaulino Montano, 46, a worker on my campus at the George Washington University, died when he fell seven stories while installing windows on a new $75 million residence hall. Mr. Montano was an employee of Engineered Construction Products,  and because his work-related death occurred at my place of employment, I was particularly interested in tracking the OSHA investigation until the case was closed. I wondered whether there was a "controlling employer," such as a general contractor or even if my employer, GWU, and whether they had some responsibility for safety at…
sb admin | July 17, 2009Last week, the Small Business Advocacy Review Panel submitted its "Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act" (SBREFA) Panel Report to acting OSHA chief Jordan Barab, on the draft proposed rule on worker exposure to diacetyl. The 259-page document summarizes (and attaches) the comments of 16 "small entity representa-tives" (SERs) who would be potentially affected by the rule.  SER participants included Weaver Popcorn, American Popcorn and Tee Lee Popcorn, (see full list on page 40 of the report) and the issues seem to fall out naturally among three types of employers: the…