regulation
sb admin | August 1, 2008Kane at Osha Underground has posted an insightful, deservedly hostile response to OSHA Administrator Ed Foulke's testimony at Tuesday's Senate hearing on combustible dust explosions.
In response to Foulke's insistence that "The fatalities and injuries at the Port Wentworth sugar refinery probably could have been prevented, had Imperial Sugar complied with existing OSHA standards on housekeeping and other OSHA requirements", Kane notes:
Ed's insistence that [National Fire Protection Association] codes on explosive dust do not need to be adopted is defying the experience of the industry that…
sb admin | August 1, 2008Celeste was the first to draw attention to the Department of Labor's proposed risk-assessment rule, whose title appeared suddenly on the Office of Management and Budget website without having been published first in DOL's regulatory agenda, and she's continued to track the news about it and explain how it threatens worker health. Yesterday, Congressman George Miller introduced a bill (which also has 11 cosponsors) to block the rule, stating, "This Congress will not stand for the further weakening of worker protections, particularly when itâs done in secretâas this Administration heads out of…
revere | August 1, 2008There's a mighty storm a brewin' in the occupational health world. It is always a marvel to us that no matter how jaded we think we are, there is always room for more indignation. It is the Bush administration's only form of renewable energy.
The issue first poked its head above water on July 8 when my colleague Celeste Monforton over at The Pump Handle noticed something suspicious on the website of the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA, pronounced oh-EYE-ra):
I found the most curious item on OMB OIRA's webpage today, and my paranoia about…
sb admin | July 31, 2008Congressman George Miller (D-CA) along with 11 co-sponsors introduced a bill yesterday (H.R. 6660) to prohibit Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao from issuing her proposed rule mandating new requirements for health risk assessments prepared by MSHA and OSHA. The Congressman's statement accompanying the bill makes plain his disdain for the Bush Administration's 7 1/2 year assualt on workers' rights and protections.  Miller promises:
"This Congress will not stand for the further weakening of worker protections, particularly when it's done in secret--as this Administration heads out of town."Â…
revere | July 30, 2008The FDA is saying they still aren't sure how over 1200 Salmonella stpaul cases resulted from food chain contamination but they are saying its from jalapeno peppers grown in Mexico. This from a press release July 25:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising consumers that jalapeño and Serrano peppers grown in the United States are not connected with the current Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak.
However, the FDA continues to advise consumers to avoid raw jalapeño peppers--and the food that contains them--if they have been grown, harvested or packed in Mexico.
[snip]
The more narrow…
sb admin | July 29, 2008Thanks to Carol Leonnig at the Washington Post and her confidential sources, we can see the true measure of Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao's disrespect for U.S. workers, embodied in her proposed rule on risk assessement. I blogged first about this "secret rule" on July 8, with follow-ups (here and here), but the challenge for advocates of worker rights and public health is articulating why this issue is important: How might it affect protections for my husband's health, my sister's health, my neighbor's health.
My friend and retired Department of Labor colleague Pete Galvin, who just…
sb admin | July 28, 2008by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure
As we noted two days ago in a post about how the produce industry is now interested in tracking regulations they previously opposed after being whacked with billions of dollars in losses because of a protracted Salmonella outbreak whose source was presumably produce but couldn't be easily traced, the sugar industry is now also interested in OSHA regulations for combustible dusts. All it took was the deaths of 13 workers at the Imperial Sugar Refinery in Savannah, Georgia. That and the thrid largest fine in OSHA history, $8.7 million. The facts suggest…
revere | July 28, 2008As we noted two days ago in a post about how the produce industry is now interested in tracking regulations they previously opposed after being whacked with billions of dollars in losses because of a protracted Salmonella outbreak whose source was presumably produce but couldn't be easily traced, the sugar industry is now also interested in OSHA regulations for combustible dusts. All it took was the deaths of 13 workers at the Imperial Sugar Refinery in Savannah, Georgia. That and the thrid largest fine in OSHA history, $8.7 million. The facts suggest that the $8.7 million was a lot more…
revere | July 26, 2008We've been saying this for a while. The produce industry has taken a big hit and their successful lobbying is one of the reasons. But it's not just their fault. It's also the fault of the Bush administration:
One of the worst outbreaks of foodborne illness in the U.S. is teaching the food industry the truth of the adage, "Be careful what you wish for because you might get it."
The industry pressured the Bush administration years ago to limit the paperwork companies would have to keep to help U.S. health investigators quickly trace produce that sickens consumers, according to interviews and…
sb admin | July 25, 2008"Destined to fail." That is the troubling conclusion of MSHA's 12-month investigation of the coal mine disaster at the Crandall Canyon coal mine that killed nine men last August. They were: Kerry Allred, 58; Dale Black, 48; Don Erickson, 50; MSHA's Gary Jensen, 53; Brandon Kimber, 29; Luis Hernandez, 23; Brandon Phillips, 24; Carlos Payan, 22; and Manuel Sanchez, 41. It is terribly disturbing to realize how these families' lives would so be different today, had someone made the conclusion "destined to fail" before these engineering plans were being develop and approved.
Mike Gorrell…
sb admin | July 24, 2008Congressman George Miller (D-CA) and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) have strongly urged Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to withdraw the proposed rule on occupational health risk assessment which her Department submitted to OMB on July 7.  Their letter says:
"we are deeply disappointed that the Department of Labor is working to slip through a rule that may have a profound negative impact on the health and safety of American workers."
The Secretary's policy chief, Leon R. Sequeira, and press officer, David James, dismiss claims that this rulemaking is being done in "secret." (Never mind…
sb admin | July 23, 2008Following The Pump Handle's July 8 post "Secret Rule on OSHA Risk Assessment" (and July 10 here), a front-page Washington Post article provides more details on the Bush Administration's plan to "reform" the system used by OSHA and MSHA to assess workers' risk from toxic materials. In U.S. Rushes to Change Workplace Toxin Rules, Post reporter Carol Leonnig obtained a draft copy of the proposed rule, which would direct the risk assessment assumptions and procedures used by MSHA and OSHA when developing regulations to protect workers health hazards. Leonnig reports that Bush…
revere | July 20, 2008The US FDA is lifting the warning on eating tomatoes it issued on June 7 because of the country's largest produce-associated foodborne Salmonella outbreak. The source of the Salmonella infections, all said to be "genetically identical" isolates of an uncommon serovar is still to be discovered, although epidemiological evidence associated it with salsa containing fresh tomatoes. Later the possibility that other salsa ingredients such as jalapeno peppers or cilantro might be the culprit has been raised. So far no one seems to know how that thousand plus cases became infected with the Salmonella…
sb admin | July 19, 2008The Houston Chronicle has reporters covering the devastating crane collapse which occurred on Friday, July 18 at 1:20 pm local time. The crane was owned and operated by Deep South Crane & Rigging which has official statements posted on the company website.  The Chronicle reports that the four deceased and the seven injured workers were contractor-employees at the LyondellBasell refinery.  The fatally injured workers were  Marion "Scooter" Hubert Odom III, 41; John D. Henry, 33; Daniel "DJ" Lee Johnson, 30; and Rocky Dale Strength, 30.Â
A related story in the Chronicle…
revere | July 19, 2008About a year and half ago, in a post entitled "One donut, black", I noted the claim of a food company that it would soon be able to sell donuts spiked with caffeine. I wasn't sure I would ever see such a thing, but I was too skeptical. Not only is that company still on track with its product, but another company has now announced its intention to put caffeine into bakery goods. All for our benefit, of course:
After announcing the development of a proprietary way to encapsulate caffeine for foods using vegetable-derived lipids last year, the company has worked in collaboration with bakery…
sb admin | July 17, 2008by Susan F. Wood, PhD
Recently the New York Times and RHRealityCheck reported on a leaked internal proposed regulation that calls for more and different enforcement of anti-discrimination provisions for health care providers. The provisions are forms of conscience clauses that do not allow discrimination in hiring or promotion of health care workers who do not wish to perform abortion or sterilization (or indeed in the reverse, no discrimination against those who do perform abortions or sterilizations) in federally funded settings.
The draft regulation goes into detail outlining the history…
sb admin | July 10, 2008Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Congressman George Miller (D-CA) are demanding answers from Labor Secretary Elaine Chao on her mysterious proposed rule on risk assessment.  I reported earlier this week that the Secretary's office sent a proposed rule to OMB on July 7 entitled "Requirements for DOL Agencies' Assessment of Occupational Health Risks." Although this proposal might sound innocuous, past experience at so-called "regulatory reform" of risk assessment tells us to be very wary of plans to "improve" the risk assessment process. In layman's terms, it means workers'…
sb admin | July 8, 2008I found the most curious item on OMB OIRA's webpage today, and my paranoia about end-of-the-term mischief by the Bush Administration kicked into high gear. The item is listed as a proposed rule submitted to OIRA for review on July 7 titled:
"Requirements for DOL Agencies' Assessment of Occupational Health Risks" (RIN: 1290-AA23)Â (Link here, select DOL) or (screenshot)
Whenever the term risk assessment is uttered by the Bush Admininstration, I know they are up to no good. Recall their earlier effort at a major overhaul of agency's risk assessment procedures; this was a proposal that…
revere | July 8, 2008The FDA and CDC still don't know the origin of the massive Salmonella outbreak, now extending to 40 states. They have lots of reasons, and under current conditions it's not an easy problem since the production channels for things like tomatoes are labyrinthine. There's lots of mixing, matching, diverting, and who knows what else going on as a tomato goes from a farm or hothouse to your table or local salad bar. We know this because FDA and CDC have been telling us so as explanation for why they still don't know where a single clone of Salmnella saintpaul has managed to infect almost 1000…
revere | July 5, 2008Three food safety stories in the news this Fourth of July weekend. All three are worrisome but the third is the most worrisome of all. What are the first two?
You know them. The first is the largest produce associated multistate Salmonella outbreak on record (now over 900 cases in 40 states) rages on. Have they found the contaminated tomatoes? No. But now they think the tomatoes might be jalapeno peppers. Or maybe cilantro:
Investigators are seeing more signs that the salmonella outbreak blamed on tomatoes might have been caused by tainted jalapeno peppers and have begun collecting samples…