regulation
revere | January 3, 2009Seventeen days left in the Bush administration. With the fiscal crisis it isn't clear some urgent matters will be attended to right away by the Obama folks, but one can hope. Urgent matters like getting the Food and Drug Administration back on track protecting our food supply. Consider this FDA Press Release from yesterday:
FDA Prevents Two Dairies from Adulterating Animal Drugs and Food
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that the District Court for the District of New Mexico has enjoined Do-Rene and Clover Knolls Dairies and their owners, Douglas B. Handley and Irene…
revere | January 1, 2009One tradition of News Years Day in the US is the college football bowl game. When I was young I always watched the Rose Bowl (my state university was in the Big Ten league), but I have gotten away from it and don't expect to be glued to the TV today. But there will still be something glued to the football field, at least metaphorically: the dirty leavings of "Clean Coal." An American college football field is 120 yards long and 53.34 yards wide. That's 6400 square yards. Last week a retention pond containing coal ash from a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal fired power plant let loose 5.4…
revere | December 30, 2008About ten people sent us links to the Washington Post front page news that isn't news to anybody in occupational health. "Under Bush," the headline read, "OSHA Mired in Inaction." You don't say!
In early 2001, an epidemiologist at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration sought to publish a special bulletin warning dental technicians that they could be exposed to dangerous beryllium alloys while grinding fillings. Health studies showed that even a single day's exposure at the agency's permitted level could lead to incurable lung disease.
After the bulletin was drafted, political…
revere | December 23, 2008One can understand why a government might be reluctant to release information to the public about the list of illegal food additives it has found in food products made within its borders when you read this:
China Releases List of Illegal Food Additives
As part of its long-term effort to improve food safety, China's Ministry of Health recently made public a list of illegal food additives that have been used in food production. Among insecticides, drain cleaners, and industrial dyes are included boric acid, an insecticide that was added to noodles and meatballs to increase elasticity, and…
sb admin | December 22, 2008Susanne Rust, Meg Kissinger and Cary Spivak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel were awarded last week the John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism from Columbia University. The three journalists close-out their excellent year of reporting with "EPA Veils Hazardous Substances" explaining how the U.S. EPA allows chemical manufacturers to skirt around disclosure requirements with claims of 'confidentiality' and 'trade secret'---even though the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) expressly prohibits manufacturers to withhold information when it pertains to health and…
sb admin | December 19, 2008The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) is thrilled by President-elect Obama's selection of Cong. Hilda Solis to serve as Secretary of Labor.
"Rep. Solis has been a leader in fighting for healthier communities, a cleaner environment, and economic justice for the most vulnerable in society. We believe that she will have the vision and political will to oversee a much needed overhaul of the nation's system for ensuring worker safety, which has failed to provide adequate protections to America's workers over the past eight years." (See full News Release)
There…
sb admin | December 18, 2008On December 12th, the Washington Post reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would not be altering their current stance on the usage of the plastic additive bisphenol A (BPA) in food and drug products. Â
"The agency has been reviewing its risk assessments for bisphenol A, a chemical used to harden plastic that is found in a wide variety of products, from baby bottles to compact discs to the lining of canned goods. The chemical, commonly called BPA, mimics estrogen and may disrupt the body's carefully calibrated endocrine system."
This is astounding given that the Post…
sb admin | December 17, 2008In late November, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard oral arguments on the two petitions for review of OSHA's health standard on hexavalent chromium (CrVI).  The transcript of the proceeding (52-page PDF) reveal that these judges did their homework. They knew the history and content of the final rule.  I was heartened to read one judge interrupt the Labor Department attorney with:
"Well, one thing that concerns me [about this final rule] is the requirement for notifying employees at the action level of the risk. And I'm not certain why…
sb admin | December 16, 2008[See update at end of post]
The OMB website which lists those rules currently under review by OIRA has a new item today: something from OSHA on Diacetyl.  (See this screenshot for the OMB listing, and this reference to the rule on Regs.gov.) You'll recall this is the butter-flavoring agent associated with severe respiratory disease in exposed workers, including individuals working in microwave popcorn plants.
It's difficult to determine from either of these screenshots exactly what kind of document OMB/OIRA is reviewing for OSHA. The only hint I see is the "prerule"…
sb admin | December 15, 2008OSHA issued a good final rule on Friday, Dec 12 designed to clarify employers' duty to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and train employees on the proper use of the PPE (link here). It will take effect on January 12, 2009. The rule was necessary because of some down-right awful and/or inconsistent OSH Review Commission decisions, and an adverse majority ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. It was one particular outrageous case of an employer's disregard for workers' health that was the straw that finally broke OSHA's back. More on that below; …
sb admin | December 11, 2008TO:  All worker health and safety advocates, seekers of justice and protections for working people, and friends of healthy work environments: Â
The American Public Health Association's (APHA) OHS Section has not, and will not, forget about the deadly and disabling illnesses caused by workplace exposure to the butter flavoring agent diacetyl. Our solidarity with workers is demonstrated through our scientific research, teaching and policy practice, and advocacy---and most recently, in song.Â
The "Popcorn Lung Roadhouse Blues," with lyrics written and sung by Luis Vazquez,…
sb admin | December 10, 2008After my post yesterday "More Delays on OSHA's Overdue Crane Rule,"  I thought more about why OSHA's decision to extend the comment period really perturbs me. Â
Some might say "we're in the middle of the Bush-to-Obama Transition. It's not like an additional 45 days will make that much difference." Here's why it does make a difference:
If OSHA had stuck to its original Dec 8 due date for public comments, the work reviewing and reconciling the public input would now be underway.  Over the next six weeks before Mr. Obama is sworn in, the OSHA staff could have assembled a list…
sb admin | December 9, 2008When OSHA finally published on October 9 a proposed rule to protect workers using cranes and derricks, I thought (maybe) we'd turned a page on at least one inexcusable rulemaking delay.  But no. OSHA's acting assistant secretary, Thomas M. Stohler, signed off last week to drag out this rulemaking even longer.  In a Dec 2 Federal Register notice, the agency chief said that a "significant number of stakeholders have requested an extension" of time to submit their written comments. The new due date is January 22, 2009.Â
Who are these significant number of stakeholders?  OSHA doesn'…
sb admin | December 3, 2008From the President who brought you "Clean Skies (cough)" and "Healthy Forests (not)" comes a slashing of the "Buffer Zone" rule which is supposed to prohibit mining companies from dumping waste rock---created by mountaintop removal to extract coal---within 100 feet of streams. As we all know from 3rd grade science class, these small streams flow into larger streams, then creeks and rivers. They are the underpinning of the natural ecosystem---locally and regionally.  Clogging up the headwaters with boulders, rocks and soil, ruins the local ecology and creates havoc downstream.…
sb admin | December 2, 2008Itâs nice to finally be able to report that the Bush administration EPA has issued what appears to be a strong pollution-curbing rule on medical waste incineration. Although medical waste incinerators account for a relatively small amount of overall air pollution, they can have significant effects in the 57 communities where theyâre currently located.
EPA estimates that if incinerators meet the new requirements, theyâll reduce mercury emissions by 637-682 pounds each year, and lead emissions by 361-420 pounds annually â good news the neurological functioning of children growing up near these…
revere | December 1, 2008Barack Obama will become President of the United States in just 50 days, but the still-President, George W. Bush, is still trashing the place prior to going out the door. The latest outrage is the rush to complete a rule the new President is strongly opposed to. Somehow I don't think that's the way it's supposed to work, but that's the way it's working. If you are committed to safer workplaces in this country, the new rule is a monstrosity that will make jobs more dangerous for whoever will still have a job after this administration's policies have played out:
The rule, which has strong…
sb admin | November 24, 2008Labor Secretary Chao issued her semi-annual regulatory today, listing allegedly the Department's "regulations that have been selected for review or development during the coming year." It all might seem kind of pointless (given that she won't have a say after Jan 20) but the document is in fact enlightening for what it doesn't mention. There's no peep about Asst. Secretary Leon Sequeira's pet project to change the way the MSHA and OSHA assess workers' risk to health hazards, YET on RegInfo.gov, Secretary Chao indicates that the risk assessment rule will be completed by 11/00/08---…
sb admin | November 21, 2008An underground coal miner who works in eastern Kentucky took the next step in his legal battle to force the Secretary of Labor to reduce respirable dust levels in our nation's coal mines. It started in March 2008 when Scott Howard of Lechter County, KY filed a lawsuit in federal court (Howard v. Chao) against the Secretary of Labor and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) asking the Court to compel the Labor Department to issue a more protective health standard to prevent coal miners from developing black lung.  On Monday, Mr. Howard's attorneys, Nathan Fetty and…
sb admin | November 20, 2008Mr. Rosaulino Montano, 46, an employee of  Engineered Construction Products of Smithsburg, MD fell seven stories to his death on Tuesday, Nov 18 on the campus of my workplace, the George Washington University (GWU).  Mr. Montano was installing windows at a $75 million residence hall under construction at F St and 22nd St. on the Foggy Bottom campus. The 10-story building will house 400 students and is schedule to open in Fall 2009.Â
Mr. Montano's death is terrible, and when the official investigations are completed I'm sure we'll learn that his death should have been prevented…
revere | November 18, 2008It's now two and half months since CDC and US FDA declared an end to the infamous tomatoes-no-it's-peppers salmonella outbreak of last summer. The outbreak itself was even longer: 3 months. There were some 1400 reported cases but probably many more that escaped detection. That's typical for foodborne disease outbreaks.
In case you've forgotten, here's a summary, courtesy Georgetown University's Produce Safety Project (PSP):
Although CDC and FDA initially pointed in early June to tomatoes as the cause of the outbreak based on epidemiological data, no contaminated tomato was ever found. In…