Worker Health & Safety | The Pump Handle

Environmental Health President Obama moves to the right on regulation; appeasing business has real life costs

January 18, 2011 The Pump Handle 8Comment

by Rena Steinzor, cross-posted from CPR Blog Sixteen months ago, President Obama stood in the well of Congress and issued a ringing call for a progressive vision of government. Working to persuade Members of Congress to adopt health care reform, he said that “large-heartedness…is part of the American character.” Our ability to stand in other […]

Injury Control & Violence Tracking investigators’ findings about on-the-job fatalities

January 14, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

Hedilberto Sanchez, 26, was killed on Monday (Jan 11, 2010) at a construction site in Elmhurst, NY when an 18-foot high cinder block wall collapsed on him. He leaves behind his wife, and two sons, Luis, 6 and Edison, 3. Three other workers were injured in the incident, including Mr. Sanchez’s brother. The men worked […]

Cancer OSHA must wash its hands of PELs

January 13, 2011 The Pump Handle 5Comment

by Eileen Senn, MS The multiple options that OSHA is considering to address their badly outdated rules for chemical hazards were described in my November 17 post. They include updating OSHA Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) which are erroneously considered to be safe levels for chemicals in workplace air. In reality, it’s wrong to call them […]

Labor Rights Paid Sick Leave and Public Health

January 11, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH 3Comment

According to new research from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, in 2010 44 million private-sector US employees, or 42% of the workforce, lacked access to paid sick time. This IWPR analysis distinguishes between employees who are eligible for paid sick time vs. those who can actually access it, because employers often don’t allow for […]

Injury Control & Violence Injury and illness prevention strategy can’t ignore working conditions

January 10, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

Lena works in a turkey processing plant in Iowa. She’s up by 5:30 am, eats sensibly, is not overweight and has never smoked tobacco. Lena should be the picture of health, but her job makes her feel much older than her 32 years. Over her 10-hour work shift, she makes about 20,000 cuts on the […]

Injury Control & Violence Saving face on the ice

January 6, 2011 The Pump Handle

Liz and Celeste are on vacation, so we’re re-posting some content from our old site. By Celeste Monforton, originally posted 11/4/09 I admit it: I have a soft spot for hockey players. It probably stems from my Michigan upbringing, including my family’s winter-time ritual of making an outdoor hockey rink, and the annual trek from […]

Worker Health & Safety Revelations in tower antenna worker’s death

January 5, 2011 The Pump Handle

Liz and Celeste are on vacation, so we’re re-posting some content from our old site. By Celeste Monforton, originally posted 12/16/09 In April-May 2008, there were a spate of fatalities involving workers doing installations or maintenance on cell phone towers. I blogged about seven of these worker deaths and promised to report back on the […]

Worker Health & Safety Wherever I look, whistleblower issues abound

January 3, 2011 The Pump Handle

Liz and Celeste are on vacation, so we’re re-posting some content from our old site. By Celeste Monforton, originally posted 3/11/10 I think the ghost of Tony Mazzocchi is haunting me. Every day for the last 10 days, I’ve been presented with narratives, videos, testimony and phone calls about the workers who are compelled or […]

Worker Health & Safety Nebraska Appleseed in the Shoes of Upton Sinclair

December 30, 2010 The Pump Handle 1Comment

Liz and Celeste are on vacation, so we’re re-posting some content from our old site. By Celeste Monforton, originally posted 11/3/09 “How can it be safe with this line so fast?” …. “Come to the plant and you will see.” …”when a visitor comes they slow it down and when they leave they speed it […]

Environmental Health Public health community calls for global ban on asbestos

December 29, 2010 The Pump Handle 2Comment

Liz and Celeste are on vacation, so we’re re-posting some content from our old site. By Celeste Monforton, originally posted 4/5/10 The painful and deadly toll that asbestos imposes on families across the globe is a public health problem of growing magnitude. In the U.S., individuals who are diagnosed today with asbestos-related disease may trace […]