In the U.S. Senate last week, between the debate and the vote on judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced S. 1580, on behalf of Senator Edward Kennedy, a bill to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. As far as I can tell, its […]
Injury Control & Violence
Oil industry fails to get serious on worker fatigue and community right-to-know
Exactly 2-years after the disaster, the five-member U.S. Chemical Safety Board voted unanimously to adopt its final investigation report on the March 2005 catatrophic explosion at the BP Texas City. Fifteen workers were killed and 180 others were injured from the blast. Among the many disturbing findings from the CSB’s investigation, was data showing that equipment operators had […]
by Richard Denison, cross-posted from EDF Blogs Today, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) unveiled its “10 Principles for Modernizing TSCA.”  Also today, the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition – of which EDF is a member – issued a news release and unveiled its 9-point “Platform for Reform of TSCA.” How do they line up? I’ll […]
It’s long past time to breathe some fresh air into the Department of Labor’s Solicitor’s Office (SOL). I was hopeful when President Obama nominated M. Patricia Smith in April to serve as the Solicitor of Labor, but since her May 7 confirmation hearing, her appointment is languishing in the Senate HELP committee. The Solicitor’s Office has about 600 employees, […]
by Sidney Shapiro, cross-posted from CPR Blog On Tuesday, the White House announced the appointment of Dr. David Michaels to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). An epidemiologist and a professor at George Washington Universityâs School of Public Health and Health Services, Michaels will bring substantial expertise and experience to the job. Besides […]
by Garrett Brown On June 5th, 200 babies and small children were dropped off at a private, government-subsidized day care center in Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora state in northern Mexico. A fire broke out next door and soon smoke and fire filled the day care center killing 48 babies and children, and severely burning […]
Steven Cain, 32, reported to work at Massey Energy’s Justice No. 1 coal mine at about 3:30 pm on Wednesday, October 8, 2008.   He never returned to his family. At about 11:00 pm that night, he died inside the mine when he was crushed between a loaded supply car and a coal rib (vertical coal wall). […]
Last fall, Mr. Rosaulino Montano, 46, a worker on my campus at the George Washington University, died when he fell seven stories while installing windows on a new $75 million residence hall. Mr. Montano was an employee of Engineered Construction Products,  and because his work-related death occurred at my place of employment, I was particularly interested in tracking the […]
The White House announced today 10 nominations for senior administration positions, including Mr. Joe Main to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health (MSHA).   The biography provided with the announcement notes that he: “… began working in coal mines in 1967 and quickly became an advocate for miners safety as […]
Last week, OSHA’s area office in Wilmington issued citations to Valero Energy Corp’s Delaware City oil refinery, including four repeat* and nine serious violations of process safety management rules. Because Valero boasts that its “process safety program instills safety and reliabiity at every refinery,” how is it that they have been found with REPEAT violations of OSHA’s process safety […]