Firefighting Causes Cancer
Mindy Isser in Jacobin describes how toxic chemicals and materials released during fires result in firefighters being diagnosed at a rate almost 10 percent higher than the general population, Firefighters die from cancer at a rate nearly 15 percent higher. In fact, n 2023, the World Health Organization classified the act of firefighting as a Group 1 carcinogen, as deadly as asbestos and tobacco.
In addition, firefighters’ uniforms are filled with PFAS, substances known as “forever chemicals,” that can be absorbed through the skin when firefighters sweat. The International Association of Firefighters recommends that firefighters limit the time they wear turnout gear, use body wipes immediately after exiting a fire and shower as soon as workers get back to the station. Women are at higher risk because gear often does not fit them well. While certain states like Massachusetts and Connecticut have taken steps to ban PFAS in turnout gear, there’s still no federal standard banning them.
Something to do this Summer: The Occupational Health Internship Program
Young folk: Have you been looking for something to occupy your time this summer other than whining about Trump? The Occupational Health Internship Program (OHIP) is national summer program dedicated to help students learn about the field of occupational safety and health from those with most at stake: working people. This is how it works: Teams of two students are placed with a union or worker organization to investigate work-related safety and health problems among workers. Projects are designed to maximize interaction between workers and students. Students learn about the OSH field from the workers’ perspective. Project work emphasizes worker interviews and worksite evaluations. At the end of the project, teams provide a “give back” product to the workers and their host union/worker organization, present their project at a national NIOSH web-conference, and produce a final report. Commitment is full-time, including possible evenings or weekends.
It’s a great opportunity, but act fast! Graduate and undergraduate students may apply. The deadline is January 31. So if there’s an area you want to look into and spend time with workers actually doing the job, apply today! (or tomorrow. Or anytime before January 31.
Undocumented Workers Experience More Injuries and Deaths
Undocumented immigrant workers have a lot to worry about — even if they’re not deported or put into camps. They do the worst, most dangerous jobs and are afraid to complain about working conditions according to a investigative piece in the New York Times bMarcela Valdes, Churchill Ndonwie, Danielle Ivory and Steve Eder. Most are employed by temporary agencies and not by the companies where they injuries or dethas occurred. The article reports that “research in multiple states shows that temporary workers have faced higher rates of serious injuries than their permanently hired counterparts. A recent study in Washington State found that the injury rate among temporary workers was about 67 percent higher.” A worker at Miracapo foods was decapitated while cleaning a machine. Workers reported that the employer directed them not to shut down the machinery before cleaning it. Miracapo was fined $2.8 million, including 17 willful violations, but the company contested the fine
Even under normal (pre-Trump times) many undocumented workers are afraid to speak out for fear of being fired or deported. “The workers spoke of staffing agencies and corporations that expected them to master hazardous jobs with minimal or no training, discouraged the reporting of injuries, and let go of workers when they were badly hurt.” In addition, “Dozens of temporary workers at multiple work sites told The Times that safety complaints were met with indifference, retaliation or threats of dismissal.” Because OSHA is so understaffed, inspections are often only initiated if a worker complains. But according to Janice Fine, a professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University, “This creates a perverse incentive for companies to hire people who are unlikely to complain.” It will only get much worse — workers will be less likely to complain to their employer or call OSHA as Trump’s deportation threat grows.
New OSHA Penalties
It’s a new year, and as happens every year since 2016, OSHA penalties are going up to track inflation. In 2015, Congress passed the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act which requires covered agencies to to publish “catch-up” rules that adjust the level of civil monetary penalties and make subsequent annual adjustments for inflation no later than January 15 of each year. The purpose of the Act was to “advance the effectiveness of civil monetary penalties and to maintain their deterrent effect.” Maximum OSHA penalties go up 2.5%. The new serious and other-than-serious penalties will increase from $16,131 to $16,550 per violation. The maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations will increase from $161,323 to $165,514 per violation. We shall see to what extent the new administration issues penalties that will actually have a deterrent effect and to what extent they will issue press releases to communicate enforcement actions.
Meat and Poultry Processing Workers are Hurting
New studies by the US Department of Agriculture has found that 81% of poultry workers and 46% of pork worker were found to be at high risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders from the number of animals or pieces of meat that slaughterhouse workers handle. USDA actually issued two reports, one for poultry and one for pork. The studies found that piece rate, i.e., the number of parts handled per minute by a worker, was associated with MSD risk. 40% of poultry workers and 42% of pork workers reported experiencing moderate to severe work-related pain during the past 12 months. Data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration also confirms that poultry and meat companies remain among the most dangerous to work for, in large-part due to injuries from keeping up with fast line speeds. Also, workers in poultry plant were overexposed to peracetic acid.
The studies recommended that
- establishments implement ergonomic program guidelines for meat and poultry packing establishments published by the US Department of Labor and National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health guidance.
- establishments continuously assess ergonomic and antimicrobial exposure mitigation, MSD prevention, and medical management effectiveness, coupled with ongoing
program modification and improvement. - Establishments reduce MSDs by increasing job-specific staffing levels, decreasing job-specific line speeds, or both.
- Establishments should implement medical management best practices, including early reporting of MSD symptoms, delivery of appropriate and timely care beyond first aid, and the use of medical monitoring to identify ongoing hazards.
Child Labor Violators Get Big Fines
Before departing the premises, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division slapped $8 million in penalties to Perdue Farms and JBS, two of the country’s biggest meatpackers after finding that the companies had relied for years on migrant children to work in their slaughterhouses. Investigators found that found that, “as far back as 2020, Perdue Farms contracted with SMX to staff production-level jobs, and that they jointly employed children in hazardous occupations at the Accomac facility to debone and process chicken and other products using equipment such as electric knives and a heat-sealing press. The employers also permitted children to work after 7 p.m. during a regular school week. The agreement calls for Perdue Farms to pay $4 million in restitution to the children, organizations advocating for child labor victims, and to support additional work to prevent child labor exploitation. The company also agreed to pay a $150,000 civil monetary penalty.
Investigators found that JBS’s third-party service providers employed children in dangerous jobs and during overnight shifts at the company’s facilities in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska. In fiscal year 2024, department investigators found more than 4,000 children had been employed in violation of federal child labor laws. JBS will fund $4 million towards preventing illegal child labor and supporting victims of child labor nationwide while prioritizing its efforts in the communities of Guntersville, Alabama; Greeley, Colorado; Ottumwa, Iowa; Worthington, Minnesota; and Grand Island, Nebraska.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes — and Lungs
In response to the raging wildfires in Southern California, Cal/OSHA has issued an alert reminding employers to protect workers from unhealthy air by complying with the agency’s Protection from Wildfire Smoke standard. The standard requires employer to monitor air quality, evaluate job duties or move worker to an area with cleaner air and provide respiratory protection (like N-95 respirators), along with training on how to use respirators and the health effects of wildfire smoke. The alert also reminds employers that it is illegal for employers to retaliate against workers for refusing to work in unsafe conditions, including in evacuation zones.
Once the fires subside, cleanup workers — as well as housekeepers, gardeners and other domestic workers — will also face the hazards of toxic ash. The Los Angeles fires didn’t just burn trees and brush; they also burned houses and cars, and all the plastic, lead, asbestos, metals, pesticides, batteries, hazardous liquids and electronics inside them. Those and all of the other hazards that go along with disasters (unstable buildings, electricity, falling trees, trenches, etc.) are all covered in a CalOSHA factsheet.
Other Articles
In Austin, a Rare Prosecution over Worker Death in Trench Collapse, by Lina Fisher, Texas Observer
New Report Exposes “Fatal Inequality” for Construction Workers, Popular Democracy
Forklifts Hurt Thousands of Workers Each Year. Factories Are Seeking Alternatives, John Keilman, Wall St. Journal
Sago Mine disaster: Mine safety laws and practices transformed after tragedy,
Hawaii, Louisiana top list of 10 worst states to work in 2024,
Lawmakers assail department’s ‘inexcusable’ response to parole agent’s killing, Steve Crane, Maryland Matters