{"id":10530,"date":"2025-01-15T08:34:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T13:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=10530"},"modified":"2025-01-15T09:43:18","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T14:43:18","slug":"2024-in-memoriam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2025\/01\/15\/2024-in-memoriam\/","title":{"rendered":"In Memoriam: The Contributions They Made"},"content":{"rendered":"

O<\/span>ne of the joys of being involved in workplace safety issues at my age is seeing so many young, enthusiastic young people working to protect workers’ lives.\u00a0 I hope they carry on to be tomorrow’s leaders.<\/p>\n

One of the sad parts of being involved in workplace safety issues at my age is that many of yesterday’s leaders, and today’s mentors are transitioning into that great labor struggle in the sky.<\/p>\n

This year we tragically lost a large number of health and safety sages and leaders.\u00a0 In the altered words of the old Righteous Brothers song, “If there’s a workplace safety heaven, Well you know they’ve got a hell of a team.”<\/p>\n

This has been an incredibly hard post to write. Whenever I go back to writing, I inevitably end up stopping as I reminisce about those we’ve lost, the times we had together and how I miss them. I knew and worked with all of the people memorialized below (except Jimmy Carter). They all helped me and inspired me at various times in my career. And I’m sure many of my colleagues could say the same.<\/p>\n

They are all heroes and they are all missed.\u00a0 But all of them passed with the knowledge that because of their work and their contributions they saved lives. Most of the workers whose lives they saved or injuries and illnesses they prevented have never heard of them and don’t know their work. And maybe that’s as it should be. Because as we esteemed elders begin to look back and sum up our lives, there’s no better legacy than the fact that our work saved lives and made the world a little better place to work and live. And that’s enough.<\/p>\n

I’m going to write a little bit about each of them — a little biography, maybe a few of my memories, and some memories by other friends and colleagues. But I can’t possibly do full justice to their lives and contributions in these short paragraphs. What I’m writing here is far too little. If you want to help by adding your memories, please use the comment section below. Or send me an email and I’ll add it to the comments. (And please let me know if there is anyone else that should be included.)<\/p>\n

Michael Silverstein 1944-2024<\/h2>\n

The first word that always comes to me is “thoughtful.” Michael and Barbara (see below) came to Washington to work at OSHA during the first term of the Clinton administration. Michael was a physician who spent 53 years specializing in the fields of occupational medicine, public health, and general preventive medicine. I’d known him since the 1980s when he was the staff MD and Assistant Director for Occupational Health and Safety for the United Automobile Workers and we worked on problems at a workplace where we both represented members.<\/p>\n

I had already\u00a0 been a great admirer of Michael as the author of\u00a0 one of the best worker education booklets of the era – \u201cThe Case of the Workplace Killers: A Manual for Cancer Detectives on the Job<\/a>”\u00a0 \u2013 a guide for workplace safety activists on how to do barefoot epidemiology in workplaces.<\/p>\n

During the first term of the Clinton administration, Michael was Director of Policy at OSHA, tasked with figuring out the strategic direction of the agency, the regulatory agenda, as well as legislative work. OSHA published several proposed rules, such as indoor air quality, respiratory protection and methylene chloride, as well as final rules for asbestos, hazardous waste operators, fall protection, personal protective equipment and others. And he had the unfortunate task of dealing with Vice President Al Gore’s plan to “reinvent government.”<\/p>\n

After he and Barbara left Washington DC to go back to the other Washington, Michael spent a couple of stints heading up Washington state’s OSHA program. Under his leadership, the state issued an ergonomics standard which was tragically repealed<\/a> in a state-wide referendum where the\u00a0Building Industry Association of Washington<\/a> organized a well-funded campaign of the usual lies<\/a> about job loss and business failure.<\/p>\n

\"memoriam\"
Michael and Barbara Silverstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I spent quite a bit of time and energy at OSHA during the Obama administration attempting to ensure the quality and consistency of OSHA’s 2state plan programs.\u00a0 Most of the state plan heads fought fiercely against our attempts to ensure that the state plans were actually “at least as effective” as the federal program. Michael, being a wise person who also had the benefit of having worked at federal OSHA and<\/em> headed a state plan, was always a fierce defender of our efforts to ensure the quality of the state plans I greatly appreciated his strong support when I often came close to blows with other state plan heads who wanted us to just leave them alone.<\/p>\n

You can view Michael’s “Celebration of Life” here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Barbara Silverstein 1946-2024<\/h2>\n

Barbara Silverstein and Michael were the health and safety power couple. I didn’t work directly with Barbara too much, but I was a great admirer of her efforts in to issue a federal ergonomics standard when working at OSHA in the early Clinton administration and her work in Washington state to collect and apply health and safety data to develop policy which set examples for other states.<\/p>\n

A preeminent epidemiologist, Silverstein was a pioneer in showing how biomechanical factors could lead to work-related musculoskeletal disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome and was named the founding director of L & I\u2019s Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention<\/a> (SHARP) program in 1990. She served in that role until her retirement in 2013, and then continued to lead projects as a retired research director in the program.<\/p>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She and Michael spent several years working at federal OSHA during Bill Clinton’s first term and Barbara developed the first draft of OSHA’s ergonomics standard. That standard was potentially so effective in helping workers that, after the 1994 Congressional elections that made Newt Gingrich Speaker of the House, OSHA’s work on an ergonomics standard become Republican Public Enemy Number One, generating a hurricane of Republican opposition that eventually ended up in appropriations riders that shut down OSHA’s efforts to issue a standard for a couple of years. Gingrich’s elevation was Barbara’s cue to head back to Washington (state). But not before she reportedly buried a copy of the standard in a time capsule somewhere on the grounds of the Department of Labor.<\/p>\n

As her close friend and co-worker Randy Rabinowitz summarized, “Barbara was a premier occupational safety and health researcher, recognized here and abroad. She remains known for her groundbreaking work in ergonomics policy and musculoskeletal disorder research even after retiring in 2013. Behind a warm and welcoming smile, she was a fierce advocate for worker health and worker safety.”<\/p>\n

Barbara Rahke 1949-2024<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Barbara Rahke<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Barbara was a UAW organizer for 30 years and health and safety activist, directing PHILAPOSH from 2005 to 2014. Although Barbara wasn’t trained as a health and safety professional, as an organizer, she saw the value of workplace safety and health as an organizing issue. (Using health and safety as a union organizing issue was — and continues to be — all too rare.<\/p>\n

She was also an inspiration to union women:<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the difficulties of organizing women, Ms. Rahke said in the 1980s<\/a>, was that they were trained to see themselves as \u201cservers, not doers.\u201d But she loved seeing women experience their own aha moments as they got involved with the union, said Judy Harden, who organized with Ms. Rahke at the UAW. \u201cWhen they began to see that they had power,\u201d Harden said, \u201cwhen they could make the university listen when it didn\u2019t want to.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Philaposh, she focused on reaching out to immigrant construction workers not represented by a union<\/a>, some of the most vulnerable workers in the city. She and Philaposh were famous for walking the streets of Philadelphia, talking to workers about their safety on the job. As Peter Dooley who worked with Barbara for many years, remembered<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In a project that broke new ground, Barbara reached out to construction workers in Philly. Her street smarts went a long way to connect with workers.\u00a0 \u201c Hey brother, how\u2019re you doing? Did you know that you\u2019d be safer with training and fall protection when you\u2019re on that roof?\u201d Barbara and her team devised a plan to reduce\u00a0 the\u00a0 deadly hazards that came with working at heights on smaller construction sites around the city. With minimal funding, the team walked around the inner city of Philadelphia identifying sites and engaging with workers and bosses to offer training and assistance. She would say, \u201cThese workers are just trying to survive. They need our help.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

You can read an interview with Barbara here<\/a>, Philadelphia Inquirer obituary here<\/a>, a remembrance from Peter Dooley here<\/a> and her Celebration of Life here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jim Howe 1950-2024<\/h2>\n
\"memoriam\"
Jim Howe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jim — who also worked with Michael at the UAW for a number of years — was a very thoughtful and dedicated advocate. He began his career working in Chicago-area steel mills, as well as Electro-Motive Diesel, a GM plant in the Chicago area. His obituary<\/a> remembers that “The devastating, never-ending work-related injuries inspired him to become a union plant safety representative.”\u00a0 \u00a0He served as Assistant Director of the UAW health and safety department where he helped conduct numerous fatality investigations.\u00a0 After his retirement from the UAW,\u00a0 he founded Safety Solutions LLC, a consulting \ufb01rm that operated from 2005 to 2024. He was the nation’s leading advocate for systems-based safety: blaming the system and not the worker. He also served as member and chair of numerous U.S. and international safety associations and standard-setting committees.<\/p>\n

Jim and I worked together on numerous issues while he was at the UAW. And even after he retired from the UAW, we’d see each other every year at various conferences. He was always happy to conduct workshops at various union and COSH conferences to make sure that workers and those entering the field of workplace safety had the correct perspective on how to address workplace hazards. Even though I sometimes though I “knew it all,” I always learned something new sitting in on his workshops.<\/p>\n

There will be a Celebration of Life for Jim on Saturday, March 8th, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. PT. Here’s the web link to join the live stream: neptunesociety.com\/obituaries\/bellingham-<\/a>wa\/james-howe-11917565<\/a>. RSVP by Feb. 21 to lynn.howe@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

June Fisher 1933-2024<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Dr. June Fisher<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June Fisher was the queen of participatory action research and worker empowerment. Her major contribution to workplace safety was including workers in developing the solutions to workplace safety and health problems. Former CalOSHA manager and safety consultant David Harrington remembers how<\/p>\n

June<\/span>\u00a0Fisher<\/span>\u00a0was a pioneer in participatory\u00a0research where study subjects\u00a0actually\u00a0participated\u00a0in crafting\u00a0the research program. What a novel concept! Her worker-focused participatory\u00a0research broke new ground for others to follow.\u00a0June<\/span>\u00a0was both a scientist and a working class warrior.<\/p>\n

Now including workers in finding solutions to workplace problems sounds pretty obvious, but somehow health and safety “professionals” often forget who the real experts<\/a> are: workers.<\/p>\n

June, who had severe arthritis,\u00a0 lived that experience in her own life.<\/p>\n

\u201cProducts need to reflect the needs of people they\u2019re designed for,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cWhile I appreciate the technical skills of design students and professionals, I don\u2019t want a 23-year-old telling me what I need. It has to be a mutual relationship where elders set the agenda and participate in the development of those products.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the work I did with June revolved around designing safe sharps. As director of occupational health at San Francisco General Hospital, she knew healthcare workers were worried<\/a> about contagion through needle sticks. She wanted to do something to address their well-founded fears.<\/p>\n

Back in the days before OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard, healthcare workers would recap sharps by hand, leading to needle sticks that often resulted in hepatitis b infections as well as\u00a0 HIV\/AIDS. OSHA prohibited this practice in its 1990 bloodborne pathogens standard, but healthcare workers continued to get stuck while handling syringes and other sharps. June and a number of other health and safety activists began a process of consulting with workers about the design of safe syringes,\u00a0 work that led to an update of OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard in 2000, that required health care employers to consult with workers <\/a>about the safe use of sharps. Her work on sharps also led to a lectureship in the Product Design program at Stanford University.<\/p>\n

She also launched TDICT<\/a>. (Training for Development of Innovative Control Technologies Project) which continues to provide health care workers “with the tools, resources, and design criteria necessary to effectively evaluate medical devices, including personal protective equipment (PPE) and devices that feature sharps injury protections.”<\/p>\n

Even before her work on needlesticks, according to her obituary, June established and led a groundbreaking medical clinic for San Francisco transit operators in 1978, “transforming routine physical examinations into collaborative research on workplace stress and safety.”<\/p>\n

Columbia University Professor Paul Landsbergis remembered<\/p>\n

Her work helped to show that hypertension was an occupational disease, and a major problem facing bus drivers. And she was a tireless advocate on behalf of bus drivers and worked closely with TWU Local 250A in San Francisco to help improve the working conditions of drivers. She was beloved by members of the Local and many other transport workers around the world. And, she inspired many of us to pursue participatory action research and educated many of us on the value of PAR.<\/p>\n

There will be a Celebration of Life of\u00a0June<\/span>\u00a0Fisher<\/span>\u2019s life and legacy for Feb 28, 2025, 7:00-8:00 pm ET.\u00a0 Details to follow.<\/p>\n

David Egilman 1952-2024<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Dr. David Egilman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think most people who knew him would characterize David as crazy, by also crazy effective. The New York Times<\/a> described him as “a physician and expert witness who, over a 35-year span, gave testimony in some 600 trials involving corporate malfeasance, resulting in billions of dollars in awards for victims and their survivors.” Some of his best known work was around asbestos in baby powder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His work also included chemicals that exposed workers to hazards in the workplace, including the devastating impact<\/a> of diacetyl (a popcorn butter flavoring) on workers’ lungs.<\/p>\n

Early in his career, David worked for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). He also started a workers’ clinic funded by AFL-CIO and did pro bono consulting for a union whose members worked in a nuclear weapons plant.<\/p>\n

David was a strong supporter of COSH groups participated in their workshops. RICOSH Director Jim Celenza remembers that he would invite health and safety advocates to come in to talk to medical students in his classes at Brown University.<\/p>\n

And he was very quotable. My favorite: \u201cA physician\u2019s oath never says to keep your mouth shut.’\u201d<\/p>\n

A close second:\u00a0“I’m in the credit-giving business. I believe that companies deserve full credit for lying, cheating, and endangering people’s health.”<\/p>\n

Needless to say the chemical and drug industry hated him, calling him biased and dogmatic. But as David explained at a trial when someone asked why he was there: “As a doctor, I can treat one cancer patient at a time, but by being here, I have the potential to save millions.”<\/p>\n

And millions should be thankful for his work.<\/p>\n

Betty Jean Hall 1946-2024<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Betty Jean Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Betty Jean Hall was the founder of the Coal Employment Project which filed anti-discrimination lawsuits to force mining companies to hire women. (Women in the mine were thought to bring bad luck.)\u00a0 She led the organization from 1977 to 1988.<\/p>\n

According to former MSHA Assistant Secretary Davit McAteer<\/a>, ”<\/p>\n

Hall had a simple, effective argument that coal companies couldn\u2019t deny. “Her push was always, ‘Mining is where the jobs are and women need to make money just as men do.’ She would say, \u2018We need the money because we have babies and we\u2019ve got families, too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall told the New York Times<\/a> in 1979 that if women had to choose between making $6,000 a year in a factory and mining coal for $60 or more a day, \u201cthey\u2019ll go into the mines.\u201d \u201cSure, coal mining is hard work,\u201d she told the newspaper. \u201cBut so is housework and so is working in sewing factories for minimum wages.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she was successful:<\/p>\n

Within a little more than a year, the Coal Employment Project filed a lawsuit charging 153 coal companies with gender bias in hiring. By December 1978, a settlement was reached with Consolidation Coal Company to pay $370,000 to 70 women who were denied jobs and to hire one woman for every four men.<\/p>\n

As a result, U.S. coal companies had hired 830 women miners by late 1978, according to a history of the organization compiled by Hall. By the mid-1980s, that number had increased to over 4,000.<\/p>\n

After the Coal Employment Project, she was Associate Director of the Occupational Safety & Health Law Center, and ended her career as Chief Administrative Appeals Judge at the DOL’s Benefits Review Board.<\/span><\/p>\n

I only met Betty Jean once, at a mining conference, where we both had the pleasure of giving Trump’s DOL officials a hard time.<\/p>\n

Sharon Morris 1942-2024<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Sharon Morris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sharon Morris was a longstanding faculty member and leader in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS). According to Dr.\u00a0Joel Kaufman<\/a>, professor in DEOHS, medicine and epidemiology.\u202f\u201cShe advocated forcefully and effectively for the department and for worker protections on many fronts\u201d and “was a cornerstone of the department during its period of rapid growth and development, serving many roles–including Associate Chair–over her inspiring career.\u00a0 She was largely responsible for the development of the department\u2019s Continuing Education activities.”<\/p>\n

DEOHS Professor Emeritus David Eaton<\/a>\u00a0noted her \u201cremarkable contributions\u201d at NIOSH, particularly her role as \u201cthe \u2018right-hand woman\u2019 behind the scenes\u201d when Linda Rosenstock directed the agency. \u201cShe and Sharon were an amazing team and were widely recognized as such across every NIOSH program in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other DEOHS community members shared tributes to Morris on her\u00a0obituary page<\/a>\u00a0in the Seattle Times.<\/p>\n

Max Lum<\/h2>\n
\"memoriam\"
Max Lum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Max Lum, former NIOSH Director of Communication led the Institute’s international programs and oversaw the expansion of its communication portfolio. He also mentored young communicators throughout the Institute.<\/p>\n

Friends and colleagues described Max as smart, committed to the work, caring, kind and fun to work with.<\/p>\n

Before joining NIOSH in 1995, Max served as Division Director at CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in Atlanta. There, he was responsible for the agency’s health professional and community education programs. Max earned his doctoral and master’s degrees at the University of Southern California with an emphasis on communication and public management.<\/p>\n

After retiring from NIOSH, Max continued to serve as a senior advisor on e-communication and research translation in the NIOSH Office of the Director. He also worked on the World Trade Center Health Program, advising on research translation efforts to improve the quality of care delivered to 9\/11 responders and survivors.<\/p>\n

As his obituary<\/a> said, “Max was a special person, a beacon of health and vitality, someone who brought champagne to any gathering, and lived an amazing life. He was loved by us all and will be greatly missed.”<\/p>\n

Indirect Hits<\/h1>\n

Bill Lucy 1933-2024<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Bill Lucy<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bill was Secretary-Treasurer of AFSCME from 1972 to 2010, and also a founder of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. He wasn’t particularly a health and safety person, but I include him here for two reasons. First, he was very supportive of our health and safety efforts at AFSCME while I was running the health and safety program in the 1980s and 1990s when many at the national headquarter didn’t quite get it.<\/p>\n

And he was a very gracious person. Whenever he asked me to write a speech for him for various workplace safety events, he never failed to call me afterwards, thank me for the speech and tell me about the discussions he had with workers and families.<\/p>\n

The second reason I’m including Bill here was that he was one of the leaders of the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike that led to the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.\u00a0 \u00a0Few know that the strike was sparked by the gruesome deaths of sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker, AFSCME Local 1733 members. On February 1, 1968, a rainstorm forced Cole and Walker to seek shelter in the back of their antiquated truck. (The city provided no other shelter for sanitation employees.)\u00a0 The workers\u2019 repeated warnings to management about mechanical problems in the trucks had been ignored until that day when a short caused the truck\u2019s compactor to kick on, crushing the two men to death. They were 36 and 30 years old, respectively.<\/p>\n

Jimmy Carter 1924 – 2024<\/h2>\n
\"memoriam\"
Eula Bingham with President Jimmy Carter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jimmy Carter died at age 100 just a couple of weeks ago. Carter, of course, was not particularly known as a workplace safety and health activist. His\u00a0 essential contribution to workplace safety and health was the appointment of Eula Bingham<\/a> as Assistant Secretary for OSHA. For those younger folk out there who don’t know about her, Eula was the first Democratically appointed OSHA head in the agency’s history and was instrumental in setting OSHA’s direction for the rest of its history.<\/p>\n

In its early Nixon years when OSHA was ridiculed for focusing on the size of toilet seats, Eula issued some of the agency’s first health standards. She and Labor Secretary Ray Marshall once threatened to resign when White House staff insisted on requiring workers to wear respirators all day instead of controlling chemical hazards at their source or through engineering controls.<\/p>\n

One of Eula’s most lasting contributions was the establishment of the New Directions Worker Training grant program which continues today as the Susan Harwood program<\/a> (which Republicans try to kill<\/a> every year.) Many of the occupational safety and health leaders of the next several decades (including me) launched health and safety programs or had their first jobs with funding from New Directions. Eula died in 2020.<\/p>\n

Carter ended his Nobel Peace Prize lecture by observing that “God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes \u2013 and we must.”<\/p>\n

All of those listed on this page made that choice — to prevent and alleviate the suffering of workers. They inspired us all. And they will be missed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the joys of being involved in workplace safety issues at my age is seeing so many young, enthusiastic young people working to protect workers’ lives.\u00a0 I hope they carry on to be tomorrow’s leaders. 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