Injury Control & Violence Buyer beware when purchasing nail guns, salespeople know little about safety risks
July 26, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 13Comment

[Updated 9/21/11: see below] Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk……is the familar sound around house framing and roofing jobs of the pnuematic nail gun. !Expletive! Expletive! Argh….Expletive!….is the cursing yelps from guys whose fingers, hands, and other body parts are punctured by nails inadvertently shot from these construction tools. An estimated 37,000 individuals in the US […]

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Injury Control & Violence OSHA lists 147 employers as “Severe Violators” of worker safety standards
July 22, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 5Comment

What do Kraft Foods Global, Tyson Foods, Sea World and Lucas Oil Production Studio have in common? They are four of the 147 employers identified by OSHA as “severe violators” of worker health and safety standards. Earlier this month, federal OSHA posted on its website a document listing employers in 30 States who meet the […]

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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 […]

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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. […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Injury Control & Violence NBA players pay their fines for bad behavior, why doesn’t Notre Dame?
June 9, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

During an National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Eastern Conference finals game last month, Chicago Bulls’ center Joakim Noah directed a homophobic slur toward a fan sitting behind him in the arena stands. The next day, the 26 year old former Florida Gator’s player emerged from a meeting with NBA officials and said he expected to “pay […]

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Injury Control & Violence Workers die on the job, prevention tools often disregarded
June 7, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 2Comment

It was just about this time last year when then Senate-candidate Dr. Rand Paul (R-KY) responded to a question about the 29 workers killed in Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine disaster and government’s role in enforcing workplace safety regulations. Dr. Paul said “…a certain amount of accidents and unfortunate things do happen, no matter […]

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