Our Labor Day tradition continues with the release of “The Year in US Occupational Health & Safety.” It is the fourth edition of the yearbook. It recaps key policy changes and research on worker safety and health at the federal, state, and local levels from the previous 12 months.
Department of Labor
Congressional budget proposals slash OSHA funding, push back on silica exposure standard: ‘These cuts and these riders are unconscionable’
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is no stranger to budget cuts — the agency is already so underfunded that it would take its inspectors nearly a century, on average, to visit every U.S. workplace at least once. In some states, it would take two centuries. Unfortunately, appropriations bills now making their way through Congress don’t bode much better for OSHA.
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health held its national safety conference last week in Baltimore, Maryland. This recap includes comments from OSHA administrator Jordan Barab, national reporters, and advocates who participated.
Government
Predicting key regulatory action on new worker safety protections should not be that difficult
OSHA and MSHA have a pathetic track record of estimating target dates for key regulatory action on new worker safety regulations. The Labor Department’s explanation for why they miss the mark just doesn’t hold up.
April 5, 2015 will mark the fifth anniversary of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster. Since then, some things have change in coal mine safety, especially by MSHA. But more than 200 US miners have died on-the-job since UBB.
The trial of former coal company CEO Don Blankenship—the man largely responsible for the Upper Big Branch disaster—is scheduled to begin on April 20. I’m ready to let the Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr. provide the best play-by-play.
MSHA continues to develop new ways for the public to access its enforcement data, while parts of OSHA’s website have been “temporarily unavailable” since early this year.
MSHA fought for 20 year to eliminate the use of an average over multiple shifts to characterize miners’ exposure to respirable coal mine dust. It seems strange now to read MSHA announce the success of a new coal dust regulation by reporting the annual average coal mine dust levels.
The top worker victories of 2014; work-related deaths in coal mining industry projected to reach new low; police officer deaths reach new high; and a major Southern grocery store chain offers benefits to legally married same-sex couples.
Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was indicated by federal prosecutors for events that led to the April 2010 death of 29 West Virginia coal miners.