Back in July, a 300-foot crane collapsed at a Houston refinery and killed four workers: Marion âScooterâ Hubert Odom III, 41; John D. Henry, 33; Daniel âDJâ Lee Johnson, 30; and Rocky Dale Strength, 30. Now, federal regulators have reported that the craneâs operator, who was among those killed, had never been in the machineâs […]
by Ellen Smith A supervisor was hurt in a roof fall December 10, 2008 at a six-employee anthracite mine that owes more than $100,000 in delinquent civil penalties, MSHA records showed. The foreman at S & M Coal Co.’s Buck Mountain Slope in Dauphin County, Pa., met loose roof while he was working alone in a heading, according […]
Last week The Pump Handle featured an article by Carole Bass entitled Why is Black Lung back? In response, a former coal miner offers his views on why coal miners in the U.S. continue to develop and suffer from this occupational lung disease that is 100% preventable. He writes: Thank you for your article on […]
In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary-Designee Tom Daschle, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) urged the new administration to emphasize the health of the workforce. Laura Walter writes in EHS Today: ACOEMâs workforce-centered health reform plan is built on four principles that include investing in preventive health programs for […]
Yesterday, I was pressed for time when I wrote “OSHA revises its field ops manual.”  I didn’t have time to comb through the new 322-page manual , let alone spend much time writing the blog post itself. A funny thing happens sometimes when I rush to put together a blog post—like a magnet, I’m pulled back to the topic, […]
OSHA released on Friday, Jan 9, a new Field Operations Manual (FOM) for OSHA compliance officers and their supervisors who work in OSHA’s area and regional offices. The 322-page manual is the procedural how-to guide for scheduling and conducting inspections, documenting violations of workplace safety and health standards, and proposing penalties. In the news release announcing the new manual for […]
The Washington Post reported yesterday that President-elect Obama wants Harvard law professor Cass R. Sunstein to serve as the head of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs ( OIRA).  I’m not prepared at this point to tangle intellectually with a  magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, who was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and a law […]
During our holiday hiatus, the Washington Post published an article looking back at OSHA during the Bush years. R. Jeffrey Smith writes: [During the Bush administration], political appointees ordered the withdrawal of dozens of workplace health regulations, slow-rolled others, and altered the reach of its warnings and rules in response to industry pressure. The result […]
Senator Edward Kennedy’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP Committee) held a hearing today to consider the nomination of Hilda Solis to be the nation’s 25 Secretary of Labor. A webcast replay of the proceedings is available (here), as is a copy of Ms. Solis’ written testimony. Here are a few highlights from her written remarks: “The Labor Department just […]
Mr. Martimiano Torres, 37, was finishing up his 12-hour shift at about 5:30 am at the  Hallett Materials aggregate operation on Oct 1, 2008, when his pick-up truck curved off the road into a dredge pond. He drowned. The surface mine is located in Porter, Texas, outside of Houston, and owned by the multi-national corporation CRH.   MSHA released […]