Obama Nominates Occupational Health Expert to Head OSHA

by Mike Hall, Jul 29, 2009

In what is described as “a win for every worker,” President Obama yesterday nominated Dr. David Michaels to head the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration (OSHA).

On the science blog, Effective Measure, Revere writes:

OSHA once again has deeply committed health and safety professionals at its helm. It’s a big job and as important as they come. Lives depend on it….This is a win for every worker.

Michaels is an epidemiologist and research professor at the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. He has conducted numerous studies of the health effects of occupational exposure to toxic chemicals, including asbestos, metals and solvents, and has written extensively on science and regulatory policy.

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, says Michaels’ expertise and leadership will help OSHA “restore vital health and safety protections for America’s workers.”

Under the Bush administration, OSHA suffered budget cuts that reduced the number of workplace safety and health inspectors and inspections and implemented a voluntary employer compliance program that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found did not improve worker safety and diverted scarce resources from other enforcement duties.

In addition, Bush’s OSHA stalled or refused to move on vital new health and safety rules to protect the nation’s workers.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, says the Michaels nomination, along with that of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis’ commitment to improve worker safety, will allow OSHA to

issue long overdue safety standards and bring back more vigorous enforcement of workplace safety and health standards.

While working at the Energy Department, Michaels worked on a bipartisan basis to help enact the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, an initiative to compensate nuclear weapons workers who developed occupational illnesses as a result of exposure to radiation, beryllium and other hazards.

In 2006, Michaels received the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award for his work on behalf of nuclear weapons workers and for his advocacy for scientific integrity.

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