{"id":1805,"date":"2017-08-22T18:00:43","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T22:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=1805"},"modified":"2017-08-22T18:01:43","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T22:01:43","slug":"kansas-city-star-osha-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2017\/08\/22\/kansas-city-star-osha-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas City Star Calls on Trump, Congress to Give OSHA Tools It Needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GiveFollowing up on its\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0(and my blog post<\/a>) on the tragic trench death of DJ Meyer last December, the Kansas City Star has published a strong editorial<\/a> calling on the Trump administration to “appoint a permanent leader for OSHA without delay. The agency should pursue an aggressive role in adopting workplace safety rules. And Congress should give OSHA the tools it needs to protect the nation\u2019s workforce.”<\/p>\n

Meyer was killed in a trench collapse last December. OSHA issued a $700,000 citation after the company was also found to be endangering workers at another site two weeks later.<\/p>\n

The case is \u201csad and infuriating,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0wrote Jordan Barab, a former deputy assistant secretary of labor at OSHA.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing put in a position to choose between your job and your life is not a position anyone should be in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yet OSHA\u2019s role in protecting workers and penalizing companies that violate workplace safety rules appears under increasing pressure from President Donald Trump\u2019s White House and its campaign against government regulation.<\/p>\n

The editorial cites the Trump administration’s failure to nominate an Assistant Secretary, its rollback of regulatory protections for workers and spending cuts proposed by the White House — and even deeper cuts proposed by Republicans in the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy amending and eliminating regulations that are ineffective, duplicative and obsolete, the administration can promote economic growth and innovation and protect individual liberty,\u201d\u00a0the Office of Management and Budget says,<\/a>\u00a0referring to reducing government rules in OSHA and other departments.<\/p>\n

There is no reference to protecting life or safety.<\/p>\n

Yet that\u2019s exactly what OSHA was designed to do \u2014 and it works. Since 1970, when OSHA was\u00a0established<\/a>, workplace deaths\u00a0have been cut by two-thirds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Great editorial from a major paper in a state that voted 57% for Trump. As we move closer to the FY 2018 budget and elections next year, let’s hope that other papers follow the Star’s example, and that America’s politicians — and voters — pay attention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following up on its\u00a0article\u00a0(and my blog post) on the tragic trench death of DJ Meyer last December, the Kansas City Star has published a strong editorial calling on the Trump administration to “appoint a permanent leader for OSHA without delay. The agency should pursue an aggressive role in adopting workplace safety rules. And Congress should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,64,2,113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-budget","category-construction","category-osha","category-trench-collapse"],"yoast_head":"\nKansas City Star Calls on Trump, Congress to Give OSHA Tools It Needs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kansas City Star calls on Trump administration to adopting workplace safety rules and give OSHA the tools it needs to protect the nation\u2019s workforce.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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