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Celeste Monforton | May 5, 2010

Perplexed by OSHA’s Latest Reg Agenda

Cross-posted from The Pump Handle. Beginning in December 2006, I’ve written five blog post commenting on the content of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) regulatory agenda for worker health and safety rulemakings.  Most of my posts see links below have criticized the Labor Secretary and senior OSHA and MSHA staff for failing to offer a bold vision for progressive worker […]

Matthew Freeman | April 21, 2010

Food, Inc. Airs on PBS; Put Your Hands on the Table and Step Away from the Hamburger

The tagline that the producers of Food, Inc. are using to promote their Academy Award-winning documentary is “You’ll never look at dinner the same way.” They’re quite right. The film airs on many PBS stations this evening (and on others throughout the course of the next week). See for yourself. I came to it expecting that I’d end […]

Ben Somberg | April 16, 2010

Crane Safety Rule One Step Closer to Reality

As the Pump Handle noted earlier this week, OSHA submitted its draft final rule on construction cranes and derricks to OMB on Friday of last week. It’s good news that the process is now moving along. The cranes and derricks rule has been a long saga, and it was one of the case studies in […]

Celeste Monforton | April 12, 2010

MSHA’s Band-Aid Approach Turns Deadly

Cross-posted from The Pump Handle. Last month, the US Dept of Labor (DOL) and MSHA were celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act.  Their proclamations said: “…this law represents a watershed moment in the improvement of occupational health and safety in the United States. It was the precursor to the […]

Ben Somberg | April 8, 2010

We Have a First Drywall Ruling

AP: A New Orleans federal judge on Thursday awarded seven Virginia families $2.6 million in damages for homes ruined by sulfur-emitting drywall made in China, a decision that could affect how lawsuits by thousands of other homeowners are settled. It remains to be seen how the plaintiffs can collect from Chinese companies that do not […]

Matthew Freeman | April 7, 2010

Massey’s Don Blankenship is No Average Global Warming Denier; He’s Also Operating an Unsafe Coal Mine

About a year ago in this space, I wrote a piece taking the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to task for its unhinged reaction to the Environmental Protection Agency’s then-nascent efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. As an example of the bombast, I included a link to a speech made by Chamber board member Don Blankenship, head […]

Ben Somberg | April 6, 2010

West Virginia Coal Mine Disaster

Twenty-five people have been killed in the coal mine disaster in West Virginia. At ABC News, Matthew Mosk and Asa Eslocker report on the safety history of the Upper Big Branch mine: The West Virginia coal mine where an explosion killed 25 workers and left another four unaccounted for in the worst mining disaster since […]

Ben Somberg | April 2, 2010

CPSC and HUD: Defnitely Remove that Drywall. And Wiring, and Gas Pipes, and…

The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Department of Housing and Urban Development released “interim remediation guidance” today for those affected by contaminated drywall (release, full guidance). CPSC had also recently released new lab test results showing high sulfur emissions from certain drywall samples. The agencies conclude: Based on scientific study of the problem to […]

James Goodwin | March 24, 2010

New Health and Safety Journalism Publication Launches Today

Today, FairWarning—a new non-profit online news journal focusing on stories involving worker and consumer protection issues—went live. On its first day, the site offered dozens of short news stories along with three longer investigative pieces. FairWarning says its mission is “to arm consumers and workers with valuable information, and to spotlight reckless business practices and […]