Archive for the ‘Workplace Health & Safety’ Category

November30

States should wait no longer for construction health and safety reforms

By: Keith Wrightson

A construction site sign that reads, "Danger. Construction Site. No Trespassing."

Flickr photo by Fousty

Construction has been reported historically as one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) . Fatalities and injuries in construction are disproportionately high compared to other industries. For example, out of 4,114 worker fatalities in private industry in 2011, 721, or 17.5 percent, were in construction.

The leading causes of worker deaths on construction sites were falls, electrocution, being struck by an object, and being caught in or between an object. These “Fatal Four” were responsible for 57 percent of construction worker deaths in 2011. Eliminating the Fatal Four would save the lives of 410 American workers every single year.

However, despite the obvious need, OSHA has been slow to address construction hazards. The rule-making process now exceeds six years on average (PDF).

Regarding these circumstances, a frustrated Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) said, “Rather than adding more bureaucracy to the process like some are proposing, Congress should be working to modernize worker protection laws so that safety officials can reasonably and effectively respond to workplace dangers with the urgency those dangers deserve.”

Continue Reading

Posted in: Regulation, Workplace Health & Safety0 comments

November29

President Obama signs whistleblower protection bill into law

By: Rick Claypool

a photo of Rick ClaypoolAll-too-often, federal workers who call out corruption in their workplace have been marginalized, penalized and even fired after drawing attention to corporate cronyism and other shady practices.

But, thanks in no small part to tens of thousands of Public Citizen supporters who contacted their members of Congress and urged them to pass the bill, the thirteen-year battle for increased whistleblower protections has finally paid off.

The bill unanimously passed both houses of Congress, and President Obama on Tuesday signed the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (S. 743) into law.

The law will provide federal civil employees with important protections, including extending the current law’s protection beyond the first person who discloses fraud and/or abuse and overriding the U.S. Supreme Court Garcetti v. Ceballos decision, which held that public employees have no First Amendment protection for speech communicated as part of their job duties.

Continue Reading

Posted in: Activism, Congress Watch Column, Social Justice, Workplace Health & Safety0 comments

November21

At next year’s Thanksgiving, salmonella may be among the fixings

By: Keith Wrightson

a photograph of a trussed, roasted turkey

Flickr photo by Another Pint Please

As mouth-watering as the prospects of Thanksgiving Day in 2013 might be, the likelihood that salmonella also will be on the table will increase substantially if a poultry rule proposed by a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture goes into effect. The rule, proposed by the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service, would drastically alter the way that poultry is inspected and processed.

If this rule is allowed to go into effect, salmonella may become more prevalent in your grocer’s freezer and on your dinner table, and, equally concerning, poultry processing plant workers will be subjected to increasingly adverse conditions. USDA inspectors would be removed from processing plants, and inspections would be handed over to the industry itself.

The rule also would increase the speed of the processing line from 32 turkeys per minute to 55 turkeys per minute. In other words, inspectors will be given barely one second to inspect each turkey before it starts its journey to your plate.

Continue Reading

Posted in: Activism, Consumer Protection, Regulation, Workplace Health & Safety1 comments

November17

Sequestration puts worker safety in harm’s way

By: Keith Wrightson

On August 3, 2011 our previous Congress actually agreed on something: The Budget Control Act (BCA). But save the celebratory cheers for bipartisan action for another time, as this piece of legislation has serious implications, especially for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The intent of the BCA is to reduce the federal government’s deficit by $2.4 trillion; the BCA has already provided $1.2 trillion in budget cuts by capping discretionary funding over the next ten years from 2012 to 2021. The remaining $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction was to be decided by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the “Super Committee.”

After many months, the Super Committee just couldn’t see eye-to-eye on any deficit reduction proposals. So, Republicans and Democrats agreed to sequestration of the budget. What that means is across-the-board cuts to our important defense and nondefense programs. Unless Congress acts, most federal agencies will see automatic reductions to budgets of 8.2 percent starting on January 2, 2013.

Sequestration is a blunt instrument that imposes automatic cuts to the majority of federal agencies, and OSHA will be at serious risk if these automatic cuts take place. For example, OSHA’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 is $565 million; an 8.2 percent cut translates to roughly $46 million

Continue Reading

Posted in: Congress, Regulation, Workplace Health & Safety0 comments

September27

When in doubt, eat potatoes?

By: Keith Wrightson

Flickr by USDA

The Obama administration’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) would like the public to believe that a third of a second is ample time to inspect a chicken for bacteria, feces and other food-borne illnesses.

We think otherwise.

On January 27, 2012, the FSIS proposed a rule, “Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection” (77 FR 4408). The rule would increase the speed of the poultry assembly line from between 75 and 91 chickens per minute to a mind-boggling 175 chickens per minute. If this takes effect, inspectors will be given just a third of a second to inspect each chicken before it starts its journey to your plate. Wanna see how fast that is? Just click here (really, it’s pretty amazing).

What can you do in a third of a second? Probably not much. Certainly not ensure a chicken is safe to eat.

Increased line speeds are nothing short of reckless and, if implemented, would jeopardize public health and worker safety. Less inspection time easily translates to a greater likelihood that contaminated chicken will end up in your grocer’s market or nearby restaurant.

The proposed rule also removes United States Department of Agriculture inspectors from the inspection process. Consumers would place their health in the hands of the poultry industry.

When Herbert Hoover campaigned on the message of feeding America and promised “a chicken for every pot,” it’s a pretty safe bet that this is not what he was envisioning.

Chicken processing is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States, both in the number of birds processed and workers required to perform processing duties. According to Priyanka Pathak of Georgians for Pastured Poultry, “Worker health and safety is a significant problem in poultry industry processing plants, where workers use repetitive motions 20,000 to 30,000 times a day on an assembly lines used to process, on average, 200,000 birds per day.”

If the newly proposed rule is adopted, workers can expect even harsher conditions.

Americans count on a safe food supply. The food-borne illness outbreaks that frequently make the news show that our safety net still has holes. Rather than make food less safe to eat and harm workers’ health in the process, the Obama administration should be working to make our food safer. Only one word can characterize this proposal: irresponsible.

Learn more about this issue by visiting: http://sensiblesafeguards.org/poultry-rule-information-center and please spread the word that today, September 27th at 3pm @USDA will be hosting a Twitter town hall. Follow @RegsRock on Twitter and see how you can engage in the conversation using the hashtag #AskUSDA.

Keith Wrightson, @SafeWorkers, is Public Citizen’s worker safety and health advocate.

Posted in: Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Uncategorized, Workplace Health & Safety0 comments

© Copyright . All Rights Reserved.