Labor Secretary Chao issued her semi-annual regulatory today, listing allegedly the Department’s “regulations that have been selected for review or development during the coming year.” It all might seem kind of pointless (given that she won’t have a say after Jan 20) but the document is in fact enlightening for what it doesn’t mention. There’s no peep about […]
A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments today about OSHA’s rule on hexavalent chromium. OSHA issued the rule in February 2006, after this same Court of Appeals instructed the Agency in December 2002 to do so. (According to Law.com, the attorneys for the parties learned only two weeks ago that […]
An underground coal miner who works in eastern Kentucky took the next step in his legal battle to force the Secretary of Labor to reduce respirable dust levels in our nation’s coal mines. It started in March 2008 when Scott Howard of Lechter County, KY filed a lawsuit in federal court (Howard v. Chao) against the Secretary of Labor and the Mine Safety […]
Forty years ago today, a series of explosions ripped through the No. 9 Mine in Farmington, West Virginia and killed 78 workers. For nine days, families and friends of trapped miners waited in the hope that some of the miners would survive â but none did, and the mine was finally sealed, with the bodies […]
Mr. Rosaulino Montano, 46, an employee of  Engineered Construction Products of Smithsburg, MD fell seven stories to his death on Tuesday, Nov 18 on the campus of my workplace, the George Washington University (GWU).  Mr. Montano was installing windows at a $75 million residence hall under construction at F St and 22nd St. on the Foggy Bottom campus. The 10-story building will […]
Our regular readers are well aware of the product defense tactics pioneered by the tobacco industry and taken to a new level by manufacturers of other dangerous products. Hazards magazine has just put out a new article about a manganese company thatâs following that playbook faithfully, even though itâs clear that its factory is making […]
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure A congressionally mandated independent panel of scientists has just issued a report verifying what many of us have know since the early 1990s. Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) is real:
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is under a congressional deadline to complete final rules by December 31 on safety refuges and on conveyor belt flammability and ventilation practices. MSHA sent those documents to OMB on Friday, Nov 14 for final White House review.  Deaths of underground coal miners in 2006 led Congress to pass the MINER […]
Last night, I read a bunch of posts in the blogosphere and then watched a segment on MSNBC’s Keith Olberman talking about the Congressional Review Act of 1996 (CRA) and how it could be used to undue regulations issued in these final weeks of the Bush Administration. Some people seem to be chomping at the bit thinking that the CRA […]
 CBSâs 60 Minutes sent a news crew to Guiyu, China to capture the terrible conditions under which many of the discarded electronics from the U.S. are recycled. Hereâs a description from 60 Minutes producer Solly Granatstein: Through the smoke, workers could be seen dismantling electronic components by hand, or melting them down over coal fires, […]