A Healthier Climate for Improved Job Safety and Health Legislation

by Mike Hall, Nov 23, 2006

What’s in store for safety and health legislation with a new Democratic majority set to take over Congress in January? One thing’s for sure—it’s bound to be better than the past several congressional sessions.

Worker health and safety issues have been back-burnered for years under the watch of the congressional Republican leadership and the Bush administration—except, that is, for their efforts to weaken workplace safety laws.

Check out the Health and Safety section at the AFL-CIO’s BushWatch site for the most egregious actions of Bush administration and Congress, which includes blocking legislation to aid ailing nuclear plant workers, signing legislation to repeal the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) workplace ergonomics standard to prevent repetitive stress injuries and toning down reports on the toxic threat faced by rescue and recovery workers working the World Trade Center rubble at Ground Zero.

The lone exception to this pattern of inaction and weakening of worker safety rules was this year’s new mine safety legislation laws that were passed because even the most anti-regulation, keep-the-government-off employers’ backs Republican couldn’t ignore the record-setting pace at which coal miners were being killed on the job.

Jordan Barab at Confined Space takes a look at several possibilities of pro-active, pro-safety measures that may see action in the upcoming Congress. They include moving more workers under OSHA’s protection, strengthening OSHA’s enforcement power by increasing penalties on employers who violate safety laws, establishing safe patient handling standards for health care workers and reversing the budget cutting that has reduced OSHA’s workforce.

Also, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who will take over the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, says he will push legislation to strengthen whistle-blower protection for workers who alert authorities about safety violations, increase penalties for repeat safety violators, build on the recently passed mine safety legislation and maintain close oversight on OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration to make sure enforce safety laws and issue needed new safety standards.

Take a look and keep in mind this warning from Barab: Business and corporate interests, the same groups that killed ergonomics and helped roll back other safety protections, will mount well-heeled attacks against tougher new safety rules.

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