A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues
Good news! The House Appropriations Committee released its FY 2018 Interior and Environment Appropriations budget bill today and it fully funds the Chemical Safety Board. The Trump administration had recommended that the Board be eliminated. The sub-committee will vote on the bill tomorrow House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen stated that “This legislation responsibly supports the…
The House Appropriations Committee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies will hold a mark-up on Wednesday, July 12 on the FY 2018 budget which includes the budget for the Chemical Safety Board. You may remember that the President’s proposed budget calls for the elimination of the CSB. A mark-up is where they take the proposed bill and…
If you haven’t yet done so, it’s time to do so. And if you have done so, do it again: Contact your legislators about passing a budget that will protect workers. The House Appropriations Sub-Committee that deals with OSHA, MSHA and NIOSH is scheduled to mark up the FY 2018 Appropriations Bill on Thursday, July…
So what’s going on here? OSHA investigates second fatal explosion in a month at Barbour Co., WV plant ARDEN, W.Va. (WDTV)-– One worker is killed in an explosion at Midland Resource Recovery, in Barbour Co., WV, less than one month after a similar explosion there killed 2 workers and seriously injured another. “Apparently when they…
America, we have a problem. And it promises to get worse. 2 Killed in Explosion at West Virginia Industrial Plant Insurance Journal, May 30, 2017 Residents Shaken By Oil Tank Explosion CBS, May 26, 207 Chemical reaction forces evacuation of Waco industrial plant May 12, 2017 Officials Blame Mechanical Failure For Explosion at Dow Plant Chem.Info-Mar…
The budget is not just a collection of numbers, but an expression of our values and aspirations. — Jacob Lew We previewed the budget late last week and that preview was pretty accurate. OSHA’s budget is essentially the same as the recently passed FY 2017 budget — flat except for the proposed elimination of the…
Today is Workers Memorial Day, a day set aside around the world to remember those killed on the job — and commit ourselves to fighting to protect workers from preventable death injury and illness on the job. As the AFL-CIO summed up in its Death on the Job report, 4,836 workers were killed on the job…
Dense cloud of chlorine threatens community near chemical plant. Chemical Safety Board issues preliminary findings of investigation of a chemical release that sent more than 140 people to the hospital last year. AP headlines scream out “Feds: Human error, labeling led to chemical cloud in Kansas.” Every time I read the words “human error” connected to…
Home Sweet Home: Congress is home for two weeks. Hopefully all of you are planning on talking to your Senators and Congresspersons at their office or doing district meetings about how cutting OSHA’s budget will mean that more workers will get hurt and die. Blood on the Steering Wheel: The discussion about the carnage in…
Chemical industry representatives are using unproven allegations that a criminal act caused the catastrophic 2013 West Texas explosion to try to kill an important chemical safety rule. Millions of people live and work in the shadow of high-risk chemical plants that store and use highly hazardous chemicals. The House of Representatives is expected to vote…