 Researchers from the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego have reported that a significant number of U.S. veterans who were stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan begin abusing alcohol after returning. Difficulties in coping with traumatic memories of combat are one possible reason; younger servicemembers and call-ups from the National Guard and Reserves were […]
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, her Solicitor and other political operatives in DOL continue to dismiss requests from Cong. George Miller (D-CA) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) for documents related to the development of her draft risk assessment proposal. The latest non-response, dated Aug 5, refers five times to the almighty “deliberative process” as a reason for refusing to disclose […]
Kathy G directs our attention to Thomas Frankâs Wall Street Journal column (sub only), which uses the AgriProcessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa to illustrate Labor Secretary Elaine Chaoâs record. In May this plant, which happens to be the countryâs largest kosher meatpacking facility, was the site of the largest single immigration enforcement operation at […]
by Nathan Fetty An editorial in today’s New York Times is the latest media piece about the abysmal failures surrounding last summer’s Crandall Canyon mine disaster in Utah. Now that investigators have revealed how the company knew of the mine’s dangers, the Times says, a criminal probe is in order. Plus, MSHA’s deference to the […]
A new GAO report and testimony at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing made it clear just how far the military still has to go in preventing and responding to sexual assault. The American News Project shows wrenching testimony from Ingrid Torres, a Red Cross worker raped by a military doctor, and Mary Lauterbach, mother […]
Tom Bethell of The Mountain Eagle urges us (and policymakers) to read the independent investigation of MSHA and the Crandall Canyon disaster, by two former MSHA District Managers, to understand how the Secretary of Labor’s demand for ‘compliance assistance’ programs set the groundwork for the deadly workplace conditions for our nation’s mine workers. Posted with permission from The Mountain Eagle […]
Tom Barton, the editorial page editor of the Savannah Morning News, blasts the behavior and attitude of the Imperial Sugar CEO John Sheptor and other senior executives in the wake of last week’s Senate hearing and the July 25 announcement by OSHA of a $8.8 million penalty against the firm. Thirteen inviduals were killed in the combustible-dust disaster, three remain hospitalized […]
Kane at Osha Underground has posted an insightful, deservedly hostile response to OSHA Administrator Ed Foulke’s testimony at Tuesday’s Senate hearing on combustible dust explosions. In response to Foulke’s insistence that “The fatalities and injuries at the Port Wentworth sugar refinery probably could have been prevented, had Imperial Sugar complied with existing OSHA standards on […]
Celeste was the first to draw attention to the Department of Labor’s proposed risk-assessment rule, whose title appeared suddenly on the Office of Management and Budget website without having been published first in DOL’s regulatory agenda, and she’s continued to track the news about it and explain how it threatens worker health. Yesterday, Congressman George Miller […]
Congressman George Miller (D-CA) along with 11 co-sponsors introduced a bill yesterday (H.R. 6660) to prohibit Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao from issuing her proposed rule mandating new requirements for health risk assessments prepared by MSHA and OSHA. The Congressman’s statement accompanying the bill makes plain his disdain for the Bush Administration’s 7 1/2 year assualt on […]