April 2010 - The Pump Handle - The Network of Care

The Latino Workers Behind the Statistics

As Department of Labor officials noted in their opening remarks at the National Action Summit for Latino Worker Health and Safety last week, Latino workers have higher rates of occupational injuries and fatalities than US workers as a whole. They are...

Published Wed, Apr 21 2010 1:27 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, OSHA

11 Workers Missing After Oil Rig Explosion

Kevin McGill of the Associated Press reports that 11 workers are missing after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig situated in the Gulf of Mexico about 50 miles from Venice, Louisianna. Seven workers have been critically injured, and two have...

Published Wed, Apr 21 2010 6:36 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety

Earth Day, Labor, and Me

By Joe Uehlein, cross-posted from Common Dreams The approach of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22 provides us an opportunity to reflect on the “long, strange trip” shared by the environmental movement and the labor movement over...

Published Tue, Apr 20 2010 6:33 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Health

Secretary Solis, speak louder and more often on worker health and safety

by the Spirit of Frances Perkins During last week’s Latino Action Summit on Worker Health and Safety in Houston, Labor Secretary Solis said: “…I am urging Congress to pass the Protecting Americas Workers Act to give vulnerable workers...

Published Mon, Apr 19 2010 7:48 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Regulation, Safety, OSHA

8 Days After Accident, MSHA Cites Inadequate Rock Dust At Upper Big Branch

by Kathy Snyder, cross-posted from MineSafetyWatch MSHA last Tuesday issued a citation to the Performance Coal Co. Upper Big Branch Mine – South, alleging insufficient measures to control explosive coal dust before the fatal April 5 explosion. The April...

Published Mon, Apr 19 2010 5:47 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Regulation, Mining, Safety, Combustible Dust, MSHA

Impact of White House regulatory policies on worker safety and health

by Pete Galvin In response to the recent tragedy at the Upper Big Branch (Massey) mine in WestVirginia, the President instructed the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to take some rulemaking actions. Accordingly, it is a good time to take a...

Published Mon, Apr 19 2010 8:59 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Uncategorized

What now in mine safety reform?

by Kathy Snyder, cross-posted from MineSafetyWatch I wasn’t able to catch President Obama’s remarks on mine safety live, but immediatley saw the summary by Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo. Two main thrusts in the points flagged by Ken: MSHA needs a better way...

Published Sun, Apr 18 2010 7:12 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Regulation, Mining, Black Lung, Legal, OSHA, MSHA

Green Jobs and You, Perfect Together

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is currently soliciting comments on the definition they will use in measuring green jobs, the industry list of green jobs, or any other aspect of the information provided in the Notice of solicitation of comments published...

Published Fri, Apr 16 2010 11:56 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Health, Uncategorized

Sustainable Safety and Health

On April 1, 2010, OSHA sponsored a green jobs information session. The purpose of the session was to describe OSHA’s green job efforts and discuss workplace hazards associated with green jobs. A blog post written here provided a less-than-enthusiastic...

Published Thu, Apr 15 2010 11:10 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Health, Uncategorized, OSHA

Why Miners Die

by Tom Bethell Twenty-nine coal miners lost their lives in last week’s massive explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia. Why? Part of the answer to that question will have to wait until the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration...

Published Thu, Apr 15 2010 4:23 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Regulation, Mining, Safety, Combustible Dust, MSHA

OSHA’s National Action Summit for Latino Worker Health and Safety

Celeste and I are in Houston for the OSHA National Action Summit for Latino Worker Health and Safety (and other related events). We’d love to meet any of our readers who are attending – if you’re at the meeting and see one of us, introduce...

Published Tue, Apr 13 2010 4:43 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Uncategorized

Still Nameless?

by Kathy Snyder, cross-posted from MineSafetyWatch One week after the Upper Big Branch explosion, apparently no confirmed listing yet exists of the 29 miners who lost their lives in the catastrophe. A spokeswoman at Massey Energy told me this morning...

Published Mon, Apr 12 2010 1:31 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Mining, MSHA

Monday update: What kind of investigation will the Obama administration Department of Labor conduct into the Massey Mine Disaster?

By Ken Ward Jr., cross-posted from Coal Tattoo Sometime this morning, investigators from state and federal agencies are expected to gather at the Mine Safety and Health Academy outside Beckley to begin planning their probe of the explosion one week ago...

Published Mon, Apr 12 2010 6:25 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Mining, MSHA

OSHA’s Crane Safety Rule at OMB for Review

I noticed on RegInfo.gov that OSHA submitted the draft of its final rule on crane safety to OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on Friday, April 9 for review. This is an OSHA rule that has been in the works since 2003 (see...

Published Sun, Apr 11 2010 4:45 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Regulation, OSHA

Discordant views: OSHA HQ vs inspectors on imminent danger protection

In August of 1990, I drove from my hometown in the Detroit suburbs to interview for a job at OSHA headquarters (HQ) in Washington, DC. I had never worked for a federal agency, let alone an important one like OSHA. I was eager to show my prospective boss...

Published Sat, Apr 10 2010 4:14 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Regulation, OSHA, MSHA

April 2010 - The Pump Handle

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