regulation
cmonforton | August 22, 2011I recently heard an individual who works on Capitol Hill describe the kinds of questions he receives from congressional offices. One that made me laugh out loud was:
"What new regulations did OSHA issue this month?"
This month? Entire years go by without a single new worker safety regulation, and those that are issued typically address hazards in just a handful of industries. In the last 10 years, OSHA has issued six major rules. The most recent, published in May 2011, was a safety standard that will affect less than 3,000 worksites, mostly commercial fishing vessels, shipyards and…
cmonforton | August 18, 2011The two 17 year old workers who were entangled two weeks ago in a grain auger remain hospitalized in the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City. Family and friends of Bryce Gannon, 17 and Tyler Zander, 17 created a Facebook page, "Prayers for Bryce and Tyler," that provides a glimpse of the long road of recovery ahead for them. Both suffered amputation injuries to their legs. The Facebook posts suggest that the two young men have undergone multiple surgeries to treat their wounds and identify potential sources of infections. A post on Monday, Aug 15 reported:
"Tyler's surgery to clean his…
cmonforton | August 11, 2011[Update 8/15/2011 below]
Tyler Zander, 17 and Bryce Gannon, 17 were working together on Thursday, August 4 at the Zaloudek Grain Co. in Kremlin, Oklahoma. They were operating a large floor grain aguer when something went terribly wrong. Oklahoma's News9.com reports that Bryce Gannon's legs became trapped in the auger, Tyler Zander went to his friend's aid and his legs also were pulled into the heavy machinery. Emergency rescue personnel had to cut apart the 12-inch metal auger in order to free the young men. They were flown 100 miles to Oklahoma City for surgery and they remain…
cmonforton | July 19, 2011Thanks to Ken Ward at Coal Tatto for alerting me to a hearing conducted last week in the House Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Overight and Government Spending, of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform called "EPA's Appalachian Energy Permitorium: Job Killer or Job Creator?" The majoirity of the witnesses were at the ready to sing the praises of King Coal and complain that the Obama Administration is trying to cripple the industry. The target of the oversight hearing was the EPA, with Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) serving as lead-off witness and insisting…
lborkowski | July 18, 2011As debt-ceiling negotiations continue and members of both parties express a desire for "leaner" government, James Kwak at The Atlantic offers an important reminder: Measuring the size of the US government by how much money it spends can be misleading. Social Security and Medicare, both of which are extremely popular, account for a huge chunk of federal expenditures; this Center for Budget and Policy Priorities big-picture breakdown shows that roughly 20% of FY 2010 federal expenditures went to Social Security, and another approximately 21% to Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health…
cmonforton | July 12, 2011If one listens to the speeches of many Republican members of Congress, especially those assigned to the House Education and Workforce Committee, you'd think the U.S. Department of Labor has unleashed an avalanche of new employment-related regulations that business must now meet. I heard one Hill staffer report on inquiries he receives from constituents who ask "how many OSHA rules were issued last month?" Imagine their surprise when they learn, OSHA barely issues one major rule per year. Whomever is telling lawmakers and business that the Labor Department's worker safety agencies are out-…
cmonforton | July 6, 2011During his first week in office, President Obama promised an Administration defined by
"unprecedented level of openness...to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration."
But that's not been the case when it comes to a draft worker safety rule developed by federal OSHA. Almost all the participation has been among special interest groups--not the ordinary workers who have the most at stake---and not in a public process that builds trust and is participatory.
The proposed regulation would affect workers exposed to respirable…
cmonforton | June 28, 2011Within 15 minutes of my 6:00 am flight from Austin to Baltimore, I knew it was going to be a long, COLD, 3-hour trip. I'd already turned off the overhhad vents to stop the frigid air from blowing on me, and contorted myself into a ball on my seat trying to stay warm. As I visualized myself lounging in the hot sun, my light slumber was interrupted by a "DING!" coming from some seat ahead of me. Two rows up, a passenger had depressed the flight attendant call button to summon the Southwest Airlines crew member.
"May I get a blanket?" the woman passenger asked.
Like me, she must have felt the…
cmonforton | June 23, 2011Rhetoric has been flying this year, especially in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, about the "burdens" of federal regulations. Many of these members seem to despise EPA rules, CSPS rules, healthcare rules, and OSHA rules. Many of their talking points come from groups like the Heritage Foundation with their reports "Red Tape Rising: Obama's Torrent of New Regulations," and "Rolling Back Red Tape: 20 Regulations to Eliminate," and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's multi-media "Regulations: Restoring Balance" campaign. Many House members were embolden early in the…
cmonforton | June 21, 2011In a post on May 5, I predicted that Labor Secretary Hilda Solis would be publishing within a few days her semi-annual regulatory plan for new worker health and safety rules. I made that projection based on requirements in the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866, which suggest these plans be published every April and October. As I've written previously, this Administration has a habit of being tardy releasing these plans, and this fifth document is posed to be the most belated. According to a very nice press officer with the Office of Management and Budget, the agencies…
cmonforton | June 17, 2011NPR's Howard Berkes reported this week on the disposition of criminal and civil charges stemming from the disaster nearly four years ago at the Crandal Canyon mine in Utah. The makings of the catastrophe began months earlier, (previous posts here, here, here) but came to a deadly denouement in the early morning hours of August 6, 2007. An explosive outburst of rock and coal, related to the retreat-mining method in use at the mine, struck (killed) and buried six coal miners: Kerry "Flash" Allred, 57; Don Erickson, 50; Jose Luis Hernandez, 23; Juan Carlos Payan, 22; Brandon Phillips, 24; and…
lborkowski | June 17, 2011by Kim Krisberg
Don't mess with Texas. The iconic phrase was actually created as part of an anti-littering campaign more than 20 years ago, however it could be as easily applied to the state's notorious anti-regulatory attitude and penchant for bucking convention. But despite its reputation, the Lone Star State is poised to join 29 other states in passing a statewide restriction on indoor smoking.
With the Texas legislature now in special session, policy-makers are considering a bill (known as HB 46 in the House and SB 28 in the Senate) that would ban indoor smoking in bars and restaurants.…
cmonforton | June 14, 2011When I decided yesterday to watch the Republican candidates debate, I created a scorecard to use while I observed the two-hour event. I was interested particularly in exchanges related to public health topics, such as access to health care, and clean air and safe drinking water. Within minutes of first tuning in, I remembered how these multi-candidate debates are heavy on rhetoric, but light on policy details. I heard the participants harp on "ObamaCare," and "burdensome regulations," as well as make promises to "de-fund," and "repeal," but there were too few substantive points on public…
cmonforton | June 13, 2011Seven Republicans will meet tonight at St. Anselms college in Manchester, New Hampshire for a Presidential debate. The participants include both the declared candidates (Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santoroum) and likely candidate, Michele Bachman. Given that the event will take place in the St. Anselm Hawk's hockey venue, I'm going to keep a scorecard on the candidates' responses to issues affecting public health.
Since the breath of topics relevant to public health is wide, during tonight's debate I'll focus my attention on domestic policy…
cmonforton | June 9, 2011During an National Basketball Association's (NBA) Eastern Conference finals game last month, Chicago Bulls' center Joakim Noah directed a homophobic slur toward a fan sitting behind him in the arena stands. The next day, the 26 year old former Florida Gator's player emerged from a meeting with NBA officials and said he expected to "pay the price" for what happened.
"I apologize. The fan said something to me that I thought was disrespectful, and I got caught up in the moment, and I said some things that I shouldn't have said."
He added:
"I said the wrong thing and I'm going to pay the…
cmonforton | June 7, 2011It was just about this time last year when then Senate-candidate Dr. Rand Paul (R-KY) responded to a question about the 29 workers killed in Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine disaster and government's role in enforcing workplace safety regulations. Dr. Paul said
"...a certain amount of accidents and unfortunate things do happen, no matter what the regulations are?"
That view "accident just happen," runs counter to public health community's evidence that many traumatic, chronic and fatal injuries can be prevented. Investigations of work-related fatalities in particular---whether…
cmonforton | June 3, 2011In Hawk's Nest Redux, Ellen Smith reports that an apalling number of the 29 deceased Upper Big Branch coal miners had black lung disease. The autopsy evidence was reported at the end of one chapter of the investigation report prepared by an independent panel of investigators commissioned by the Governor of West Virginia.* Smith compared the shocking prevalence of lung disease in these men in the year 2010, to the 1930's Hawk's Nest tunnel/Gauley Bridge disaster in which a thousand workers developed acute and progressive lung disease within just a few weeks of work breathing air thick with…
lborkowski | May 31, 2011by Ellen Smith
For those who don't know the history of the Hawk's Nest Tunnel, from 1930 to 1935, approximately 3,000 workers carved a 3 mile tunnel through the Gauley Mountain in West Virginia in order to divert the New River for an electrical station at a Union Carbide plant. Ventilation was limited at best. The miners were not given modest protections like masks or breathing equipment. Quartz dust from cutting into the mountain invaded their lungs. Signs of the deadly lung disease, silicosis, began for some within eight weeks of employment. It's estimated that up to 1,000 miners who…
cmonforton | May 26, 2011The White House's regulatory czar Cass Sunstein announced today agency roadmaps for a 21-century regulatory system, and the results of the Obama Administration's "unprecedented government-wide review" of existing regulations. I don't know what history books Mr. Sunstein has been reading, but for at least the last 20 years, every Administration has engaged in these regulatory review exercises to identify rules that are "out-of-date, unnecessary, excessively burdensome or in conflict with other rules." It's a real stretch for him to call this review "unprecedented." I only quibble about…
cmonforton | April 12, 2011The practice of posting a notice about meetings between regulated parties and OMB staff began during the GW Bush Administration, not a group known for transparency. Even that very secretive Administration saw the value in informing the public promptly of such meetings. The Obama Administration's OIRA is now 0-2 when it comes to disclosure of meetings about OSHA rules. (Their performance may actually be even worse. For all I know they've had other meetings. We just don't know to look for them on OIRA's website.)
Serious health effects related to overexposure to respirable crystalline…