The Central Valley Business Times reports on another apparent farmworker heat death: Ramiro Carrillo Rodriguez, 48, a father of two and employed by a farm labor contractor, died in Selma Thursday afternoon after working all day in a Reedley vineyard. Mr. Ramiro complained being sick from the heat and was taken home by his foreman. […]
Worker Health & Safety
KBR and DoD expose workers and soldiers to a carcinogen but it’s not a big deal
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure What’s a little sodium dichromate, anyway? So it’s a known human carcinogen and can do a lot of other nasty things. No big deal. Not for Iraq war contractor, KBR, anyway. At the time KBR was a subsidiary of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld’s Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company, Halliburton. […]
When Iâm teaching a class or speaking to a group about the “funding effect” â the close correlation between the results desired by a studyâs funders and those reported by the researchers â people often ask how researchers do it. How is it that researchers paid by a sponsor usually get results favorable to the […]
When was the last time the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO agreed on a matter related to workers’ health and safety? That’s exactly what has happened since the formal announcement about CDC Director Julie Gerberding’s decision not to reappoint NIOSH Director John Howard. Members of Congress are demanding meetings, stakeholders are sending letters, and the NYTimes Editorial Board called […]
Starting in August, roughly 17,000 employees of the state of Utah will switch from five-day to four-day workweeks. Essential services like police and public schools wonât be affected, but an estimated 1,000 of the stateâs 3,000 buildings will be closed on Fridays. The state expects to save $3 million, and affected workers will pay for […]
Bloggers consider the disappointing results from the G8 summit: Kate Sheppard at Gristmill explains why the G8 climate agreement is not so great (especially when considered in light of goals set in 1992). Richard Littlemore at DeSmogBlog lays the blame for the G8âs climate standstill on three men. Angelique van Engelen at Triple Pundit takes […]
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Congressman George Miller (D-CA) are demanding answers from Labor Secretary Elaine Chao on her mysterious proposed rule on risk assessment.  I reported earlier this week that the Secretary’s office sent a proposed rule to OMB on July 7 entitled “Requirements for DOL Agencies’ Assessment of Occupational Health Risks.” Although this proposal might sound […]
Pens, pads, and other trinkets bearing prescription-drug logos have come to symbolize the extensive presence of pharmaceutical marketing in healthcare settings, but they may be on their way out. Pharmaceutical-industry trade association The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) is announcing a new voluntary code of conduct that bans drug reps from distributing these […]
In the New York Times, David Tuller describes the on-the-job violence nurses face, and efforts to make their workplaces safer:Â Three years ago, an enraged patient â 6 feet 4 inches and 275 pounds â smacked another patient, bit a health aide, threatened to kill [psychiatric nurse Karen] Coughlin and lunged forward to strike her. […]
I found the most curious item on OMB OIRA’s webpage today, and my paranoia about end-of-the-term mischief by the Bush Administration kicked into high gear. The item is listed as a proposed rule submitted to OIRA for review on July 7 titled: “Requirements for DOL Agencies’ Assessment of Occupational Health Risks” (RIN: 1290-AA23) (Link here, select […]