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) […]
Education
Young farm workers at greater risk of dying on-the-job, proposal to protect them called “detrimental,” “foolish” and “idiotic”
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, […]
Injury Control & Violence
Billion dollar company and a broom handle implicated in death of two workers
[Updated 11/14/11 below] Barrick Goldstrike is the largest gold producer in the world, with a stock market value of $51.0 Billion. With that kind of wealth, one has to ask why workers at the company’s Meikle mine near Elko, Nevada were compelled to use a broom handle to keep a reset button depressed, so tons […]
Injury Control & Violence
New data shows nursing home workers suffer more injuries than construction, factory and mine workers
We’ve seen reality shows featuring dirty jobs, cops and coal miners. I wonder if it’s time for one showing a day-in-the-life of nursing home workers. Most of us don’t give much thought to what goes on inside of nursing homes, that is until a friend or family member needs to reside in one. What might […]
Injury Control & Violence
OSHA adds 25 employers to Severe Violators list, 163 employers named in total
Tucked away on federal OSHA’s website is a list of 163 employers with the dishonorable label “severe violator.” The designation comes from an enforcement program launched in April 2010 to identify “recalcitrant employers who endanger workers by demonstrating indifference to their responsibilities under the law.” The label is not easy to get. In any given […]
Mining
Coal mining industry insisted on new dust sampling technology, now they don’t want MSHA to use it
It’s too late for Ronald Martin of Dema, Kentucky. “I’m in last stage of black lung,” he wrote in shaky script, “please help the miners so they won’t suffer like I suffer. I can’t breathe but a little.” Mr. Martin sent his note to the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to comment […]
Freshman congressman Larry Bucshon (R-IN) scolded OSHA chief David Michaels for using the term “cancer” as a buzz word. The congressman, who is also a thoracic surgeon, said: “I don’t like it when people use buzz words that try to get people’s attention, and cancer is one of those.” The exchanged occured last week at […]
It’s been 8 weeks now since two 17 year-old workers lost legs in an industrial auger while employed at a grain handling facility in Kremlin, Oklahoma. One of the young men remains in the hospital, but may be released soon to a rehabilitation facility. When I first wrote about this horrible incident, I noted that […]
Injury Control & Violence
Curious to learn about workplace safety in a responsible regulatory environment
I’m eager to listen in on tomorrow’s congressional hearing about workplace safety. It’s being conducted by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, with the title “Workplace Safety: Ensuring a Responsible Regulatory Environment.” That’s a heading that probably means different things to different people, and those of us watching would […]
Injury Control & Violence
House Republican Appropriators don’t think coal miners need protection from black lung disease
Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-MT) and his Republican members of the House Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Labor Department don’t think coal miner deserve better protection from black lung disease. In their FY 2012 appopriations bill they would prohibit the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) from using any funds to develop, promulgate, enforce or […]