December 6, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 3Comment

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) released today the findings of its 20 month-long investigation into the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion. The April 5, 2010 disaster killed 29 workers, seriously injured another worker, and left hundreds of grieving family members and friends. MSHA identified 12 violations of safety […]

December 1, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

The worker-led organization Restaurant Opportunities Center United released this month a new type of diners’ guide, one that focuses on working conditions for the employees at 180 restaurants nationwide. The US restaurant industry employs 10 million individuals and is the fastest growing sector in the economy. More than half of restaurant workers, however, earn less […]

November 28, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

A new report by the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) confirms what some of us have suspected: there’s not much difference between the Obama Admininstration’s and GW Bush Administration’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) when it comes to meetings with industry lobbyists and giving lip-service to transparency. In “Behind Closed Doors at the […]

November 25, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

Before too long the US Department of Labor (DOL) and other federal agencies should be issuing their annual regulatory plans and semi-annual agendas. These documents serve as official public notice of agencies’ regulatory (and deregulatory) priorities. The Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order (EO) 12866 direct agency heads to release these documents in April (agenda) […]

November 18, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 10Comment

For U.S. workers, the risk of dying on the job is highest if you are employed in agricultural, fishing or hunting. These jobs are not just a little riskier than the average job, they are nearly 8 times more life-threatening. The fatality rate for all private sector workers is 3.5 per 100,000 workers; in agriculture, […]

November 14, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 8Comment

She’s a hospice nurse. When I tell people her occupation, I typically receive a response like this: “She must be a very special person. I could never work in a place where people go to die.” Hospice is a “place,” and equating hospice to death, are just two of the misperceptions that hospice care providers […]

November 8, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 5Comment

An overwhelming majority of seniors want to remain in their own homes as long as possible. Residing with a family member or friends may not be an option, and assisted living facilities may take too big a chunk out of a senior’s fixed income. Older Americans, and I’d argue most of us, feel more independent […]

October 26, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 5Comment

In big bold orange letters, the cover of the United Mine Workers of America’s (UMWA) report on the Upper Big Branch mine disaster reads “Industrial Homicide.” The union’s 154-page report says: “Massey Energy must be held accountable for the death of each of the 29 miners. Theirs is not a guilt of omission but rather, […]