Worker Health & Safety | The Pump Handle

Cancer No avalanche, hardly even a snow flurry, of worker safety regulations in Labor Dept’s latest regulatory agenda

July 12, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

If one listens to the speeches of many Republican members of Congress, especially those assigned to the House Education and Workforce Committee, you’d think the U.S. Department of Labor has unleashed an avalanche of new employment-related regulations that business must now meet. I heard one Hill staffer report on inquiries he receives from constituents who […]

Environmental Health Investigators probe integrity of OSHA’s safety recognition program

July 7, 2011 The Pump Handle 5Comment

Update below (7/8/2011) Just a few months after the Obama Administration took office, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a scathing report on OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). The program is supposed to recognize workplaces with exceptional safety programs, but GAO’s investigators identified participant worksites that had multiple fatalities and gross violations of safety standards. […]

Cancer Special interest groups and White House stalling worker safety rule

July 6, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 7Comment

During his first week in office, President Obama promised an Administration defined by “unprecedented level of openness…to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration.” But that’s not been the case when it comes to a draft worker safety rule developed by federal OSHA. Almost all the participation has […]

Occup Health News Roundup Occupational Health News Roundup

July 1, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has released additional results from its ongoing investigation into the disaster at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine, which killed 29 miners last year in West Virginia. Like the independent investigation team, MSHA investigators cite poorly controlled coal dust, inadequate ventilation, and a corporate culture that emphasized coal […]

Occup Health News Roundup Occupational Health News Roundup

June 24, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH

Deborah Sontag’s New York Times story about the murder of 25-year-old mental health worker Stephanie Moulton, allegedly at the hands of schizophrenic patient DeShawn Chappell, is a moving exploration of two grieving families and the many challenges facing the mental health care system. Deborah Sontag’s New York Times story about the murder of 25-year-old mental […]

Cancer Speaking sensibly (and not) about public health regulations

June 23, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

Rhetoric has been flying this year, especially in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, about the “burdens” of federal regulations. Many of these members seem to despise EPA rules, CSPS rules, healthcare rules, and OSHA rules. Many of their talking points come from groups like the Heritage Foundation with their reports “Red Tape Rising: Obama’s Torrent […]

Cancer Department of Health and Human Services releases 12th Report on Carcinogens, adding formaldehyde and styrene to the list

June 22, 2011 Elizabeth Grossman 1Comment

by Elizabeth Grossman On June 10th the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Toxicology Program released the department’s 12th Report on Carcinogens, adding eight new substances to the overall list that now includes 240 compounds (or classes of compounds) known or reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens. Two of these […]

Cancer My prediction on the next worker safety regulatory agenda was way off

June 21, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

In a post on May 5, I predicted that Labor Secretary Hilda Solis would be publishing within a few days her semi-annual regulatory plan for new worker health and safety rules. I made that projection based on requirements in the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866, which suggest these plans be published every April […]

Injury Control & Violence Still no day in court for worker safety violations at Crandall Canyon coal mine

June 17, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

NPR’s Howard Berkes reported this week on the disposition of criminal and civil charges stemming from the disaster nearly four years ago at the Crandal Canyon mine in Utah. The makings of the catastrophe began months earlier, (previous posts here, here, here) but came to a deadly denouement in the early morning hours of August […]

Addiction & Substance Abuse Third time’s the charm?: Passage of Texas Smoke-free Workplace Law down to the wire

June 17, 2011 The Pump Handle 2Comment

by Kim Krisberg Don’t mess with Texas. The iconic phrase was actually created as part of an anti-littering campaign more than 20 years ago, however it could be as easily applied to the state’s notorious anti-regulatory attitude and penchant for bucking convention. But despite its reputation, the Lone Star State is poised to join 29 […]