Democrats on the House Education and Labor Committee, led by U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, introduced legislation that would help the nation’s health and safety agencies to hold employers more accountable for exposing their workers to preventable hazards.
According to Woolsey, the Protecting America’s Workers Act (H.R. 2067) will strengthen and modernize the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the nation’s law that ensures the health and safety of American workers.
“It has been more than 30 years since the passage of the OSH Act, and it is badly in need of reform. While thousands of workers have been saved as a result of OSHA, 16 workers are killed and 11,200 workers are injured or made ill each and every day,” said Rep. Woolsey (D-CA). “This legislation will strengthen OSHA by expanding coverage to millions of workers who are currently unprotected or inadequately protected, increasing civil and criminal penalties for those who violate the law, and by protecting those who blow the whistle on unsafe employer practices. I look forward to working with Chairman Miller and my colleagues on the committee to pass this legislation, and to partnering with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis to ensure that every American worker gets the protections that they deserve.”
“Beginning last Congress, we conducted a systematic examination of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and their ability to protect workers. We found that far too many employers were subject to a slap on the wrist or even let off the hook when they put their employee in danger,” said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the full committee. “This legislation is vital to improving the health and safety of American workers.”
Among other provisions, the bill:
- Expands OSHA coverage to include state and local public employees and federal government workers.
- Expands coverage to millions of other workers inadequately covered such as airline and railroad employees, and Department of Energy contractors.
- Raises civil penalties and indexes those penalties to inflation.
- Establishes mandatory minimum penalties for violations involving worker deaths.
- Allows felony prosecutions against employers who commit willful violations that result in death or serious bodily injury, and extends such penalties to responsible corporate officers.
- Requires OSHA to investigate all cases of death and serious injuries (i.e., incidents that result in the hospitalization of 2 or more employees).
- Improves Whistleblower Protections.
- Codifies regulations that give workers the right to refuse to do hazardous work.
- Clarifies that employees cannot be discriminated against for reporting injuries, illnesses or unsafe conditions, and brings the procedures for investigating and adjudicating discrimination complaints into line with other safety and health and whistleblower laws.
- Allows workers and their families to hold dangerous employers accountable.
- Provides workers and employee representatives the right to contest OSHA’s failure to issue citations, classification of its citations, and proposed penalties.
- Gives injured workers, their families, and families of workers who died in work-related incidents the right to meet with investigators, receive copies of citations, and to have an opportunity to make a statement before any settlement negotiations.
- Clarifies that the time spent by an employee accompanying an OSHA inspector during an investigation is considered time worked, for which a worker must be compensated.
- Prohibits OSHA from designating a citation as an “unclassified citation” where an employer can avoid the potential consequences of a “willful” violation, the most serious violation.
- Allows any worker or their representative to object to a modification or withdrawal of a citation, and entitles them to a hearing before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
$53,162 Fine for Death of Teen at Demolition Site
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has fined Atlanta-based Demon Demo Inc. the maximum child labor penalty following an investigation into the death of a teenage worker at the company’s Gwinnett Place mall demolition site from a second floor fall.
This penalty is the first assessed by the division under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. That statute increased the maximum level of civil money penalties to $50,000 for each child labor violation that results in the work-related death or serious injury of a minor. In cases where the employer’s violation is repeated or willful, the maximum penalty is $100,000. In addition to the $50,000 penalty, child labor fines totaling $3,162 were assessed because the company failed to keep accurate records and allowed the minor to work in an occupation deemed hazardous by the Secretary of Labor.
“The federal rules governing the employment of minors are clear, and the consequences for failing to comply are serious,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Young workers must be employed safely and legally.”
Certain industries allow individuals under age 18 to perform certain tasks at worksites where primary work activity is dangerous, but these tasks are very specific, and state and federal government closely monitor compliance.
$46,500 Fine for Chlorine Gas Leak
OSHA has cited Metalor Technologies for 10 alleged serious violations of safety standards, with $46,500 in fines, following an inspection prompted by a November 7, 2008, chlorine gas leak at the company’s North Attleboro, Massachusetts, metals refining plant.
OSHA’s inspection found deficiencies in the plant’s Process Safety Management () program, a detailed set of requirements and procedures employers must follow to proactively assess and address hazards associated with processes and equipment that use large amounts of hazardous chemicals. In this case, the process involved the use of chlorine gas to purify precious metals.
“The consequences of a leak or other incident involving large amounts of chlorine can be severe and catastrophic,” said Brenda Gordon, OSHA’s area director for southeastern Massachusetts. “That’s why it is vitally important that each element of the process be rigorously, completely and continuously scrutinized and adjusted to minimize hazards and enhance the workers’ safety and health.”
Specifically, the company had not compiled information on the chemicals, technology, and equipment used in the purifying process; performed an initial process hazard analysis; developed and implemented written procedures covering the process, its ongoing integrity, and any changes to it; audited the process at least once every three years; and obtained and evaluated the safety and health programs of outside contractors working in the plant. The company also failed to post a sign identifying a confined space.
These conditions resulted in the issuance of the 10 serious citations. OSHA issues serious citations when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known. The inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Boston South Area Office in Braintree.
NIOSH Warns of Fake N95 Respirator Approvals
The DuraMax PRO EN149 FPP1 Dust Mask is not certified as an N95 respirator and it is not approved by NIOSH.
The DuraMax PRO EN149 FPP1 Dust Mask is individually packaged with the words NIOSH N95 printed on the mask.
A NIOSH approval is issued to a respirator only after it has been tested and evaluated in the laboratory and found to comply with all the requirements of 42 CFR, including a review of the manufacturer’s quality plan.
House and Senate Committees Request Review of Bayer’s Continued Use of Methyl Isocyanate
Four House and Senate committee and subcommittee chairmen sent a letter to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board requesting an examination of whether Bayer CropScience’s continued use of the highly toxic chemical, methyl isocyanate (MIC), can be justified in light of ongoing health and safety risks to company employees, emergency first responders, and the public.
The request was made by Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Rep. Bart Stupak, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and Rep. Edward J. Markey, Chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee.
The Chairmen asked the Chemical Safety Board to use its broad authority to examine “options for Bayer to reduce or eliminate the use or storage of MIC at its West Virginia facility by switching to alternative chemicals or processes and the estimated cost of these alternatives.” The Chairmen also asked the Board to determine if the company has adequately assessed the feasibility of these alternatives.
Congress has been investigating the events surrounding an August 28, 2008, explosion at Bayer’s chemical plant in Institute, West Virginia, which occurred only 80 feet from an 18-ton storage tank of MIC and could have resulted in massive fatalities. A hearing convened by Rep. Bart Stupak, Chairman of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, on April 21 revealed that Bayer engaged in a “campaign of secrecy” to conceal information from federal investigators, first responders, the media, and the public.
“Our Committees intend to continue rigorous oversight of this issue, and we may hold additional hearings at the conclusion of your investigation,” said the Chairmen in the letter to the Chemical Safety Board.
In 1984, MIC leaked from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killing approximately 4,000 people and injuring thousands more. After that tragedy, another chemical company, DuPont, changed its manufacturing processes to eliminate large stockpiles of MIC at its facilities. Bayer did not do the same, however, and its plant in West Virginia remains the only chemical facility in the United States that still uses and stores large volumes of this chemical.
May is Electrical Safety Month
OSHA’s webpage on the Control of Hazardous Energy describes why this practice is important to protect workers from the unexpected startup of machinery, or the release of hazardous energy during service or maintenance activities.
NIOSH Recognizes 2009 Award Winners
The annual Alice Hamilton Award, James P. Keogh Award, and Bullard-Sherwood Research-to-Practice Awards are given to projects that demonstrate scientific excellence of technical and instructional materials by NIOSH scientists and engineers, outstanding service by an individual in the occupational safety and health field, and exceptional efforts by NIOSH researchers and our partners in applying occupational safety and health research to the prevention of workplace fatalities, illnesses, or injuries.
“Each year we have the great opportunity to honor NIOSH researchers for their dedication to improving and advancing workers’ safety and health,” said NIOSH Acting Director Christine M. Branche, Ph.D. “This year is no different as we recognize these talented researchers who have taken on the safety and health challenges we see in both the traditional fields, such as mining and manufacturing, as well as new and emerging fields, such as nanotechnology.”
Named after Dr. Alice Hamilton, a pioneering researcher and occupational physician, the Alice Hamilton Award is given for outstanding NIOSH contributions in the areas of biological sciences, engineering and physical sciences, human studies, and educational materials. The submissions go through a rigorous review by panels of scientific experts, including peers from both outside and inside NIOSH. This year’s projects contributed to a wide range of sectors including mining, manufacturing, and services, as well as major workplace safety and health issues, including exposure to nanomaterials, hearing loss, and respiratory diseases.
For 2009, we are proud to honor John Howard, MD, MPH, JD, LLM for his exemplary commitment to the occupational safety and health field. Dr. Howard exemplifies the Keogh Award’s goal of outstanding service in occupational safety and health through his leadership at the state and federal level and his efforts to make the nation’s primary investment in occupational safety and health information, research, and guidance more relevant to workers and employers in the United States and around the world.
The Bullard-Sherwood Research-to-Practice Award, named for the inventor of the hard hat Edward W. Bullard, and R. Jeremy Sherwood, the inventor of the personal industrial hygiene sampling pump, is given to recognize recipients for outstanding contributions in three categories: Knowledge, Interventions, and Technology. This year the award and honorable mentions went to projects addressing issues including the incorporation of occupational safety and health initiatives into graduate business courses, improvements in fall injury controls and interventions, improvements in eliminating safety hazards for emergency medical service (EMS) workers and in EMS protective clothing criteria, and noise controls for mine workers.
Henningsen Cold Storage Co. Joins SHARP
SHARP provides an incentive for employers to work with their employees to find and correct hazards, develop and implement effective safety and health programs, and continuously improve. The ultimate goal of SHARP is to encourage employers to become self-sufficient in managing workplace safety and health issues.
Established in 1923, Henningsen Cold Storage Co. is a full-service, public refrigerated warehousing company offering more than 42 million cubic feet of frozen and refrigerated warehousing space, with locations in Oregon and five other states. The company’s Forest Grove facility has 15 employees.
“SHARP reinforces our commitment to being an excellent and safe business partner in the communities we serve,” said Mike Henningsen Jr., chairman and president of Henningsen Cold Storage Co. “By keeping our employees involved in the safety process, they are more aware of their surroundings and willing to help everyone in the operation stay safe.”
Participation in SHARP doesn’t eliminate regulatory enforcement, although SHARP participants do receive a limited exemption from programmed inspections. Employees retain all workplace safety and health rights contained in the Oregon Safe Employment Act. Oregon employers that have been in business for more than one year are eligible to apply for SHARP regardless of size or type of business.