The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi is one of the Pump Handleâs top book recommendations this year (hereâs an excerpt, to whet your appetite). On Monday January 7th, the bookâs author, Les Leopold of the Labor Institute, will be coming to Washington to read from it […]
Updated 12/20: See below Four workers were killed and at least 14 people were injured in a violent explosion at the T2 Labs in Jacksonville, Florida. The firm manufacturers Ecotane®, the gasoline additive “methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl” (i.e., MMT® or MCMT), which increases the octane rating of gasoline. The firm says that its Florida facility is state-of-the art, and uses a […]
Nurses, construction workers, and cleaning industry employees have some new resources available to them: The American Nurses Association launched a âSafe Staffing Saves Livesâ website to help nurses become advocates for safe levels of staffing in hospital units (via Occupational Health & Safety) NIOSH has issued âSimple Solutions: Ergonomics for Construction Workers,â which includes tip […]
Every few months like clockwork, news stories have been appearing to report a rise in incidence rates for coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP).  The format goes something like this: Headline: Black lung on the rise! Lead: NIOSH reports sharp increase in black lung cases Body: How can this be? It’s so perplexing. You’d think they’re talking about a never-seen-before viral disease. Instead, it’s all about CWP, a disease that […]
As the year is winding down, one question on the minds of many MSHA inspectors, managers and staff has to be: Will Stickler be here in 2008? The MSHA chief, Richard Stickler, received his job from President G.W. Bush on a “recess appointment,” which expires at the end of the current U.S. Senate session. If the Senate adjourns (as it usually […]
An gas explosion in a coal mine in Chinaâs Shanxi province has killed 105 miners. Xinhua reports on factors that contributed to the tragedy: [Li Yizhong, head of the State Administration of Work Safety] said the number nine coal bed, where the accident occurred, was not approved for mining. However, it had been mined since […]
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao published her semi-annual regulatory agenda yesterday in the Federal Register. Earlier this month, I’d made predictions about the agenda, but after perusing the document, I’m glad I didn’t put any money down on my guesses. Rather than updating the status of safety and health standards that are in the works, many hazard topics […]
The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act (H.R. 2262) would revamp the 1872 federal law governing hardrock mining (mining for metals and gems, not for coal), and a new article from Business Week reports that the Act has the support of many local officials who worry about miningâs effects on air, water, and tourism. Industry officials […]
The New York Times’ headline read: 350 Men Entombed in Mine Explosion. Rescue Force at Work in the Debris of Two Shattered Mines at Monongah, West Va. Poisonous Gas Pours Out. At about 10:00 am on Dec 6, 1907, a violent explosion of methane gas and coal dust killed hundreds of workers at two adjacent underground […]
A quick look at âPredictors of Psychostimulant Use by Long-Distance Truck Driversâ by Ann Williamson in the American Journal of Epidemiology. An Australian study finds that paying truck drivers by the job (instead of by the hour or week) leads to increased driver use of amphetamines and other stimulants, which is associated with increased risk […]