A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues
The Chamber of Commerce is nothing if it’s not consistent. Consistently opposed to each and every new protection issued or contemplated by OSHA, consistently challenging every new OSHA initiative in court, consistently (and drastically) overestimating the cost of every proposed OSHA standard, consistently opposed to any action by OSHA that would expand (or even maintain) workers’…
President Trump and Labor Secretary Acosta need you to do something for your country. On March 13, President Trump signed an “Executive Order on a Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch” directing the head of each agency to submit a “proposed plan to reorganize the agency, if appropriate, in order to improve the efficiency,…
Workers Memorial Day is Friday. Events are being organized all over the world, and the AFL-CIO has just issued its 2017 edition of Death on the Job. This is the 26th edition of Death on the Job. Download it and read it: it’s the bible of what’s happening in workplace safety and health in this…
♦ From Mitch to Donald, with Love: Looks like we may have a Secretary of Labor by Thursday. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell is preparing a gift for the President making sure he has a full cabinet before his 100 Day anniversary. McConnell filed for cloture (ending debate) Monday on Alexander Acosta’s nomination. The Senate is expected to vote…
Workers Memorial Day — when people from around the world come together to remember those who have been killed, injured and sickened in the workplace, and re-commit to fighting for safer workplaces — is Friday, April 28. In the United States, this year will be dedicated to defending the hard-won workplace safety and health accomplishments workers…
OSHA announced this afternoon that it was delaying enforcement of its silica standard in the construction industry for 90 days. Originally scheduled to begin June 23, 2017, enforcement will now begin Sept. 23, 2017. Employers are still required to comply with the standard, but so that the agency can “conduct additional outreach and provide educational…
You should definitely read every one of the articles below about why repealing the Volks rule is bad for workers, bad for good employers and bad for America. But if you don’t have time, I’ve summarized the greatest hits here: First, Nell Greenfieldboyce has a great story on NPR’s All Things Considered this evening, starring…
Tragic story about the killing of Yadira Arroyo, a 44 year-old emergency medical technician with the New York Fire Department by an apparently mentally ill man, Jose Gonzalez. Arroyo was the mother of two sons who were trying to follow her into the profession. Her death plunged the city’s medical workers into mourning and sent ripples beyond…
No one should go to work expecting to get hurt. And certainly no one should go to work expecting to get assaulted. Unfortunately, assault at work is a common occurrence for this country’s care givers — health care workers and especially nurses. And unlike many workplace injuries, violence is often accompanied by serious psychological trauma,…