August 3, 2009 The Pump Handle 1Comment

This morning, I read MSHA’s fatality report for the April 7 electrocution death of Tadd M. Bainum, 36.  Mr. Bainum was a supervisor, and was doing electrical-related work, but had NOT received appropriate training in electrical tasks.  MSHA’s investigators noted: “Failure to train [him] in performing the task constituted more than ordinary negligence and is […]

July 20, 2009 The Pump Handle 4Comment

Last fall, Mr. Rosaulino Montano, 46, a worker on my campus at the George Washington University, died when he fell seven stories while installing windows on a new $75 million residence hall.  Mr. Montano was an employee of Engineered Construction Products,  and because his work-related death occurred at my place of employment, I was particularly interested in tracking the […]

July 6, 2009 The Pump Handle 5Comment

The White House announced today 10 nominations for senior administration positions, including Mr. Joe Main to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health (MSHA).    The biography provided with the announcement notes that he: “… began working in coal mines in 1967 and quickly became an advocate for miners safety as […]

July 6, 2009 The Pump Handle 2Comment

Last week, OSHA’s area office in Wilmington issued citations to Valero Energy Corp’s Delaware City oil refinery, including four repeat* and nine serious violations of process safety management rules.  Because Valero boasts that its “process safety program instills safety and reliabiity at every refinery,” how is it that they have been found with REPEAT violations of OSHA’s process safety […]

June 22, 2009 The Pump Handle 1Comment

Friday (6/19) was the final day for participants from OSHA’s public hearing on its proposed cranes and derricks rule to submit comments to the agency; by my count, seven organizations responded.  The Edison Electric Institute  offered the lengthiest document (94 pages), and it was peppered with provocative language, such as “…these and many other vexing questions arise from OSHA’s convulated proposed […]

June 17, 2009 The Pump Handle 4Comment

A group of 47 H&S inspectors, supervisors and managers from California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) sent a pointed letter to the three-person OSH Appeals Board demanding they “cease and desist” their destructive practices.  This Appeals Board is equivalent to the OSH and MSH Review Commissions; it exists because California is one of the 23 States that operates […]

June 9, 2009 The Pump Handle 5Comment

Updated below (6/13/09) The Associated Press and other news sources are reporting on an explosion today at a meat processing facility in Garner, NC.  Four workers are missing, at least 41 are injured, including several with very severe burns.  One worker reports: “I was picking up a piece of meat off the line and I […]

June 8, 2009 The Pump Handle 4Comment

As the public health community mourns the loss of a great scientist and colleague, The Pump Handle would like to share some of what has been written about Kate Mahaffey.  Please leave your own remembrances in the comments section below. “I have known Kathryn as a colleague for more than a decade, but most recently […]

May 14, 2009 The Pump Handle 3Comment

In honor of the Washington, DC Area Bicyclist Association and their annual Bike to Work Day (Friday, May 15) by Reut Tenne A couple of days ago, I announced to a few friends that I regret not participating in the District of Columbia’s (DC) bicyclists’ movement.  I am not sure that there is such a thing, but I […]