Celeste Monforton to Testify on DOL Risk-Assessment Rule

Celeste Monforton will be testifying tomorrow at a hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Laborâs Subcommittee on Workforce Protections (10am, 2175 Rayburn). Sheâll be speaking about the Department of Laborâs proposed worker health risk-assessment rule, which might have gone undetected by worker-health advocates had Celeste not spotted its name on a White House Office of Management and Budget website. In a letter to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Celeste and 79 other scientists and occupational health experts summarized their concerns about the rule this way:

By oversimplifying the risk assessment process, demanding an unachievable quantification of uncertainty, and defining adverse effects in a narrow manner that overlooks medical reality, the Department has created a proposed regulation that will hamper the OSHA and MSHA in their Congressionally-mandated duties to protect workersâ health from toxic agents.

The Education and Labor Committee website will have streaming video of the hearing available. For more information on the rule, check out this case study and previous blog posts on the rule.