For the first time in OSHA’s rulemaking history, the agency is requesting that those submitting studies, reports and analysis on its proposed silica standard disclose potential conflicts of interest.
The Labor Department took the first major step this month to protect the health of many U.S. workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica. Workers in the mining industry, however, are not addressed by the Department’s action.
Construction crews working in a cloud of dust takes place thousands of times every day in the U.S. Here’s just one example from my community.
The second annual report on US worker health and safety offers a review of activities and new policies at the federal scene, and a recap on the best reporting about it by the nation’s journalists.
OSHA’s recently released proposed rule on silica gives us a good opportunity to see if President Obama’s new regulatory czar will keep his promise for transparency in the rulemaking process.
A long-awaited proposal to protect 2 million workers from occupational silica exposure was announced today by OSHA.
The newly created Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on Oversight, Federal Rights and Agency Action held today its first hearing. Witnesses described the toll on public health and safety when the regulatory process is paralyzed by powerful interests and required analyses with no proven benefits.
A construction industry trade association in British Columbia urged the province’s regulatory body to issue a proposed rule to protect silica-exposed workers. The proposal was issued this month. Where’s the U.S. equivalent of a group of high-road construction employers insisting on rules to protect workers’ health and safety?
Spring 2013 looked like it would be a banner season for progress by the Obama Administration on new worker safety regulations; not so much anymore.
Since the White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) began reviewing the Labor Department’s proposed rule to reduce by one-half the permissible workplace exposure to respirable crystalline silica more than two year ago, the US has seen a dramatic increase in industrial sand mining, a major route of workers’ exposure to silica dust. Industry groups claim the more-protective standard would be too expensive.