OSHA, MSHA Move on Bush-Stalled Health and Safety Rules

by Mike Hall, May 12, 2009

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is moving forward on several new workplace safety measures that languished for years under the Bush administration. The move follows last week’s unveiling of the Obama administration’s Labor Department budget that boosts OSHA’s funding by $51 million and includes the hiring of 160 new safety inspectors.  

According to the Labor Department’s regulatory agenda released yesterday, the safety agency will move on several rules stalled under Bush’s OSHA, including rules to protect workers from exposure to dangerous substances and chemicals such as silica (which can cause serious respiratory disease), diacetyl (a flavoring additive linked to “popcorn lung”) and beryllium (a light metal that can cause lung damage, especially to metal and dental workers). 

One of the group’s leading the call for a silica standard is the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD). The BCTD developed a model standard that includes exposure monitoring, training, medical surveillance and compliance.   

OSHA also will take action on several other issues, including rules concerning working in confined spaces in construction, shipyard and other industries; blood-borne pathogens; and protecting workers who “blow the whistle” on employers’ unsafe practices. 

While the issues are at various stages of the rule-making process, action will be quicker on those involving exposure to dangerous chemicals. That’s because in January, the Obama administration announced it was withdrawing a last-minute move by the Bush administration—a procedure known as advance notice of proposed rule making—that workplace safety experts said could reduce the rule-making process by as much as two years. 

In addition, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is taking several rule-making steps related to monitoring or reducing the allowable respirable dust levels in the nation’s coal mines. Coal dust causes the deadly disease black lung that robs victims of the ability to breath. 

Recent studies have shown that after years of decline, the rate of the deadly disease has doubled and is appearing in younger and younger miners. Last September when the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) released the report, Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts said the two main causes behind the increase in black lung disease were the lack of enforcement of the current respirable dust level standard and an exposure limit that is far too high. 

For a detailed a look at the regulatory agendas of OSHA and MSHA, plus those of other Department of Labor agencies, click here.

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