A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues
I’m back after a couple of weeks of travel and instead of focusing about what happened over the last couple of week, what didn’t happen is probably more significant. What Happened Six months into Fiscal Year 2018, Congress finally passed the FY 2018 budget. Congress essentially ignored the President’s request to slash worker safety and health…
In a fiery rebuttal of Republican and employer attacks on OSHA during the Obama administration, former Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels yesterday rejected assertions that OSHA had focused only on confrontation over cooperation, and or that the agency had flouted the law and good safety practice when it came to enforcement, standards and media campaigns.…
Earlier this week, President Trump submitted his Fiscal Year 2019 budget proposal. This is his second budget proposal, and like the first, although it left OSHA’s budget fairly flat, it once again proposes to slash or eliminate important safety and health programs and agencies. And this is Trump’s second OSHA budget that has been proposed…
With the end of 2017 comes the end of the 10th month of new, revised, rejuvenated version of Confined Space. A lot has happened over the last year. Below are the stories that put workplace safety and health into a political and historical context. But, of course, the real story — and in some ways,…
Substandard conditions in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey have impacted workers’ health and safety on the job, as well as their wages according to a devastating new report from from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and University of Illinois Chicago that surveyed 360 workers. The report also offers recommendations for improving working conditions…
After months of rumors, the White House has finally announced that it has nominated Scott Mugno, Vice President for Safety, Sustainability and Vehicle Maintenance at FedEx Ground in Pittsburgh, to be an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. Who is Scott Mugno? The biography on the White House press site reads: He…
Just got back from a couple of weeks away and thought I’d spend some time catching up on what’s been happening. And as long as I’m doing that, you should benefit from it as well. Here’s some of the things that have been going on over the last few weeks that you may have missed.…
Today the full Senate Appropriations Committee reported out the FY 2018 Labor-HHS Funding Bill. The bill maintains OSHA, MSHA and NIOSH funding at the FY 2017 levels. That means that there are no cuts from the agencies’ current (FY 2017) budgets. And the most surprising news is that the bill also includes $10.5 million for the…
The rain finally seems to be stopping in Texas, but the struggles there are just beginning as the huge job of clean-up and repair begin. OSHA has a little known, but crucial and life-saving role protecting recovery workers after major hurricanes and floods. The goal: Protect the safety of response and recovery workers. Don’t create…
OSHA released a grant announcement last week for its Susan Harwood Worker Training Grants. But don’t get your hopes up. The Trump administration did not wake up and suddenly realize how important job safety and health training is to high risk and vulnerable workers. These grants are funded by FY 2017 money which has already…