What do the Alaska Community Action on Toxics, the Migrant Clinicians Network, Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, and 65 other organizations have in common? They’ve all endorsed the “Protecting Workers on the Job Agenda”, a collaborative product of the American Public Health Association’s Occupational Health and Safety Section and the National Council for Occupational Safety and […]
by Carole Bass (posted with permission from the On-Line Journalism Project, New Haven (CT) Independent) Black lung disease used to be nearly as common as dirty fingernails among American coal miners. Roughly a third of them got the fatal illness. Starting in the 1970s, a federal law slashed that rate by 90 percent. But now […]
Like her boss President G.W. Bush, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao is offering her version of Labor Department history over the last 8 years. She posts prominently on the Department’s homepage her “accomplishing milestones for American workers” including the claim: “the current workplace injury and illness rate is at its lowest level in history having dropped 21% since 2002.” I […]
Susanne Rust, Meg Kissinger and Cary Spivak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel were awarded last week the John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism from Columbia University. The three journalists close-out their excellent year of reporting with “EPA Veils Hazardous Substances“ explaining how the U.S. EPA allows chemical manufacturers to skirt around disclosure requirements with claims of ‘confidentiality’ and […]
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) is thrilled by President-elect Obama’s selection of Cong. Hilda Solis to serve as Secretary of Labor. “Rep. Solis has been a leader in fighting for healthier communities, a cleaner environment, and economic justice for the most vulnerable in society. We believe that she will have […]
On December 12th, the Washington Post reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would not be altering their current stance on the usage of the plastic additive bisphenol A (BPA) in food and drug products.  “The agency has been reviewing its risk assessments for bisphenol A, a chemical used to harden plastic that […]
In late November, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard oral arguments on the two petitions for review of OSHA’s health standard on hexavalent chromium (CrVI).  The transcript of the proceeding (52-page PDF) reveal that these judges did their homework. They knew the history and content of the final rule.  I was heartened to […]
[See update at end of post] The OMB website which lists those rules currently under review by OIRA has a new item today: something from OSHA on Diacetyl.  (See this screenshot for the OMB listing, and this reference to the rule on Regs.gov.) You’ll recall this is the butter-flavoring agent associated with severe respiratory disease in exposed workers, including individuals working in microwave […]
OSHA issued a good final rule on Friday, Dec 12 designed to clarify employers’ duty to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and train employees on the proper use of the PPE (link here). It will take effect on January 12, 2009. The rule was necessary because of some down-right awful and/or inconsistent OSH Review Commission decisions, and an adverse majority […]
TO:  All worker health and safety advocates, seekers of justice and protections for working people, and friends of healthy work environments:  The American Public Health Association’s (APHA) OHS Section has not, and will not, forget about the deadly and disabling illnesses caused by workplace exposure to the butter flavoring agent diacetyl. Our solidarity with workers is demonstrated through our scientific research, teaching and policy […]