The Huffington Post investigates how the mining industry cheats worker safety; Seattle set to raise minimum wage to $15; and the death of a hummus plant worker could have been prevented with better safety practices.
A investigative Houston Chronicle piece exposes the dangers of the tank cleaning industry; North Carolina lawmakers back fracking secrecy with jail time; and Wal-Mart contractor settles in wage theft case.
Conditions on Florida tomato farms improve thanks to the Fair Food Program; federal officials are developing a protective inhalation screening level for the West Virginia chemical spill region; and a Government Accountability Project expert testifies on whistleblower protections in observance of Workers Memorial Day.
Should fatality investigation reports include the names of the victims? Opinions differ.
Seatbelts save lives. But some workers don’t wear them. We might save some lives if we knew why.
Will President Obama’s new regulatory czar make good on his promise to conduct reviews of agency rules in a timely manner? The 90-day deadline will expire this week for the office’s review of the Labor Department’s final rule to protect coal miners from black lung disease.
Environmental Health
Despite shutdown, journalists finding plenty to report on coal miner fatalities
Reporters were shut out during the shutdown of access to agency information. That situation didn’t stop two of them from continuing to report on deaths of workers in the U.S. mining industry.
Last year, Caitlin O’Dell’s 27 year-old husband was crushed between two pieces of mobile mining equipment. A proximity detection device could have saved his life, but the coal industry insists the devices need more study before mine operators are required to install them.
While OSHA has never been the most robustly funded federal agency, its efforts and regulatory authority have helped prevent countless deaths, injuries and illnesses on the job. However, recent budget cuts and future budget cut proposals threaten those gains, and it’s no stretch to say that worker health and safety hang in the balance.
The federal government shutdown has put a halt on most workplace safety inspections. It’s another important public health program adversely affected by the spending showdown.