Confined Space @ TPH
sb admin | June 3, 2009Currently, medical residents can work up to 30 hours without time off for sleep and are limited to working 80 hours per week (thatâs down from working as many as 120 hours per week, which was often the case before new rules took effect in 2003. Recently, the Institute of Medicine recommended that residents only be allowed to work 16 hours before taking time off for sleep. Working too many hours without sleep is risky both for the residents and for the patients under their care.
Stephanie Desmon reports in the Baltimore Sun about a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine that…
sb admin | June 3, 2009cross-posted from OMBWatch
Despite the Obama Administration's consistent theme of creating a new, more open government, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has yet to prove it will comply with the Administration's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) policies. In its response to a 2008 FOIA request, MSHA refused to release information that has been consistently released in the past. An appeal of that response provides a test of the administration's approach to implementing its openness policies.
On his first full day in office, President Barack Obama issued a memorandum about…
sb admin | May 28, 2009Discarded computers, mobile phones, and TVs from consumers in developed countries often wind up in developing world, where workers â some of them children â disassemble the electronic waste to extract metal and other valuable materials. Usually working without any kind of protective equipment, theyâre exposed to lead, mercury, cadmium, flame retardants, and other toxic substances. Areas like Guiyu, China (one of the most infamous dumping sites for e-waste) become horribly polluted and contaminated.
A growing awareness of e-waste problems has spurred efforts to make electronics recycling safer…
sb admin | May 24, 2009By Ellen Smith
The nation may have a new President with grand ideas about the Freedom of Information Act, but letâs be clear: at MSHA, nothing regarding FOIAÂ has changed.
The same people are still in charge of FOIA, offering ridiculous redactions and refusing to divulge information which, previous to 2002, was openly shared with the public.  The latest redaction battle comes from Tony Oppegard, a minersâ rights advocate.  (See Oppegard's response to MSHA's FOIA denial.)  Oppegard has filed 135 cases on behalf of miners, but in his latest case, MSHA is denying Oppegard information…
sb admin | May 22, 2009A few days ago, I expressed my annoyance with OSHA about its SBREFA meeting on the draft proposed rule on diacetyl, the lung-damaging, butter-tasting food additive.  OSHA had announced earlier in the year that this pre-proposal dialogue with small employer would be "open to the public." I anxiously awaited public notification about the open meeting, only to find out on Wednesday afternoon it had already taken place. I asked myself: Did OSHA make an announcement about the date, time and place of the meeting and I just failed to see it?Â
I contacted OSHA's Office of…
sb admin | May 22, 2009By Bill Borwegen
While the news coming out of California this week has focused on the budget crisis, something else of historic importance in advancing worker protections was achieved by Californiaâs healthcare workers. Yesterday in a 6-0 vote, the CalOSHA Standards Board adopted the nationâs first aerosol transmissible diseases standard.
In 1986 when unions petitioned OSHA for a bloodborne pathogens standard to protect against HIV and Hepatitis, the American Dental Association told us that if dentists wore gloves, everyone would be scared and that no one would go to the dentist.  Since…
sb admin | May 20, 2009Two months ago, I applauded OSHA for announcing that its SBREFA panel meeting on a draft diacetyl proposed rule would be open to the public. Today, I feel schnookered. OSHA hosted its teleconference-meeting yesterday (5/19) and today (5/20) with specially-selected small employers, but failed to provide meaningful notice to allow the public to participate. Is a meeting really "public" if you don't tell the public? Or is it really public if you only tell a select few? Â
 Not in my book.
In my March 17 post OSHA's new direction on diacetyl, I noticed that OSHA's Federal Register…
sb admin | May 20, 2009Last week, a 44-year-old soldier on his third deployment to Iraq opened fire at his U.S. military base near the Baghdad International Airport, killing five service members and wounding three others. Sgt. John Russell had been sent to the combat-stress clinic at Camp Liberty by his superiors, and two of the five people he killed worked at the clinic. The Christian Science Monitorâs Gordon Lubold writes about the role of deployment length and frequency in soldersâ mental-health issues:
The case has focused further attention on the effect that multiple, extended deployments are having on…
sb admin | May 14, 2009Before the year is out, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) will have at least one vacancy, and Mark Griffon, a current member of the Federal Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health, wants to be appointed to it. Current CSB member Gary L. Visscher's term expires in November. Appointment on the CSB requires a Presidential nomination and U.S. Senate confirmation.
Groups supporting Mr. Griffon for the slot include the United Steelworkers, United Auto Workers, Chemical Workers of America, AFL-CIO, Change to Win Alliance, the Public Health Institute, New Jersey…
sb admin | May 13, 2009by Rena Steinzor, cross-posted from CPR Blog
With his attractive family and a phalanx of top aides in tow, Professor Cass Sunstein had a cordial, 45-minute hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee yesterday. He was introduced by former student and current Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) who praised Sunstein as a teacher, mentor, and eclectic thinker, all qualities for which he is rightly known. Ironically, however, the remainder of the hearing could be summarized as efforts by the three Senators in attendanceâ Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), ranking…
lborkowski | May 13, 2009Labor Secretary Hilda Solis signed off on her first semi-annual agenda of regulations, which was published in the Federal Register on Monday, May 11. She writes:
"This document sets forth the Department's semiannual agenda of regulations that have been selected for review or development during the coming year. The Department's agencies have carefully assessed their available resources and what they can accomplish in the next 12 months and have adjusted their agendas accordingly."
I've griped before about not understanding the difference between the items listed on this "agenda" and the…
sb admin | May 13, 2009by Pete Galvin
You never learn much from a "wired" confirmation hearing, and that was true yesterday at the hearing for Cass Sunstein to be director of OIRA. Only three Senators bothered to come (apart from his former student, now the Senator from Minnesota, who introduced him before leaving) and two short rounds of questions were designed to let him place on the record a few key statements to respond to interest groups. Â
He is, he assured them, not in favor of banning hunting; he thinks both OSHA and the Clean Air Act are constitutional; and his number one priority at OIRA is to follow…
sb admin | May 12, 2009Early Sunday morning (May 10), I read a news brief from WSAZ reporting that seven workers had been rescued from a flooded underground coal mine in Gilbert, WV, after being trapped for 32+ hours. As I combed the web for further details, I was struck by the news accounts and audio recordings noting that the trapped miners and their families had spoken numerous times by telephone during the ordeal, as if such conversations are ho-hum-routine during mine emergencies. Â
I was fascinated simply reading that the miners trapped under the earth had a means to communicate with the surface.…
sb admin | May 12, 2009Compact fluorescent lightbulbs save energy, but the mercury in them has to be handled with lots of caution â and thatâs not always the case in the Chinese factories that manufacture a large share of the bulbs. Michael Sheridan Reports for the Sunday Times (UK):Â
In southern China, compact fluorescent lightbulbs destined for western consumers are being made in factories that range from high-tech multinational operations to sweat-shops, with widely varying standards of health and safety.Â
Tests on hundreds of employees have found dangerously high levels of mercury in their bodies and many…
sb admin | May 11, 2009One trait of a good reporter is providing facts---facts that may make us uncomfortable, but ultimately force us to ask "is this really true?"  That's what happened to me on Friday when I read the Charleston Gazette's Ken Ward's piece Solis plays fast and loose on MSHA budget, in which he accused the new Labor Secretary of spinning the data on mine safety enforcement spending---reminiscent of  Chao and Stickler. He wrote:
"...what should I make of the way Labor Secretary Hild Solis tried to spin the Obama administrationâs proposal to â when adjusted for inflation â pretty much…
sb admin | May 7, 2009During today's confirmation hearing for M. Patricia Smith as Solicitor of Labor, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) referred back to last week's Senate hearing on "Meaningful Roles for Victims and Their Families." The dialogue went as follows:Â
00:72:30
Senator Murray: "This committee has had a number of hearings about workplace accidents and the aftermath. One of the things that has become apparent is families of victims have very little say in OSHA and MSHA's compliance decsions, and I wanted to ask you if you believe that OSHA and Regional Solicitors should consult more closely with…
sb admin | May 6, 2009Over the next week, two Senate committees will hold confirmation hearings on senior Administration officials who could play key roles in worker health and safety policy. First, the Senate HELP Committee will meet tomorrow (May 7) to consider the nomination of M. Patricia Smith for Solicitor of Labor. I wrote previously about Ms. Smith's efforts as NY Commissioner of Labor to address the needs of vulnerable workers, including her creative and aggressive approaches to ensure that workers are paid their legally earned wages. I hope to hear Ms. Smith discuss how she will direct…
sb admin | May 1, 2009University of Maryland Law Professor Rena Steinzor called for fundamental changes to the role of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in federal regulatory review, at a House Committee hearing held on April 30. The Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the Committee on Science and Technology has been examining OIRA's functions and responsibilities, with the chairman stating:
"...Though rarely in the headlines, OIRA has, in the years since its creation under President Reagan, quietly become the most powerful regulatory office in the Federal government."…
sb admin | April 30, 2009Labor Secretary Solis announced today the next step in OSHA's effort to propose a rule to protect workers exposed to the butter-flavoring agent diacetyl. The Small Business Administration and OSHA identified 13 "small-entity representatives" (SERs, defined by SBA as companies with 500 or fewer employees nationwide) to serve on the panel which allows them to review the proposed regulatory text and regulatory analysis, and make recommendations for changes to the draft proposed rule before it is published in the Federal Register for the standard public comment period.  In OSHA's letter…
sb admin | April 29, 2009Here are a few articles and posts about Workers Memorial Day events. If you've got more, leave a link in the comments.
Las Vegas Sun: Safety advocates testified on Capitol Hill, while Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis attended the groundbreaking for a new National Workers Memorial and vowed that "The Department of Labor is back in the enforcement business." (Plus, an article about victims' families here.)
McClatchy Newspapers/San Luis Obispo Tribune: Witnesses at the House Education & Labor Committee hearing urged that OSHA penalties be strengthened in order to deter employers from allowing…