Report: Estimates of OSHA Regulation Costs Way Off Base
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Last year, researchers Nicole and Mark Crain conducted a study that claimed federal regulations cost businesses $1.75 trillion a year. Included in that total is the assertion that Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations cost businesses $65 billion a year. But the study is fundamentally flawed, says John Irons, Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI’s) director of policy and research.
The Crain and Crain model contains basic conceptual mistakes and relies on extraordinarily poor data. Its results should neither be used as a valid measure of the economic costs of regulation nor as a guide for policy.
In “Flaws Call for Rejecting Crain and Crain Model,” released last month, and “Deconstructing Crain and Crain: Estimated Cost of OSHA Regulations Is Way Off Base,” released last week, EPI punches holes in the methods used in the study and its conclusions. Check out the critiques here and here.
Here’s one example. EPI found that more than 99 percent of the $65-billion estimate on OSHA costs is based on regulations adopted in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey and Director of Regulatory Policy Research Isaac Shapiro explain that one reason that estimate is wrong is that businesses have already adjusted to changes they needed to make to comply with the regulations, and the cost estimates do not account for these changes.
Join OSHA’s Safe Workplaces Photo Contest
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is sponsoring a nationwide photography contest: “Picture It! Safe Workplaces for Everyone.”
The contest, which is part of OSHA’s yearlong 40th anniversary celebration, will help kick off a national effort to raise awareness about workplace safety and health.
The contest is open to anyone age 18 and older and will run through Aug. 12. Both professional and amateur photographers are welcome to enter. Participants can find contest rules and submit photographs at www.osha.gov/osha40/photo-contest.html.
Global Anti-Regulation Agenda Threatens Health and Safety at Work
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On Workers Memorial Day, the global union movement is warning that more lives will be lost at work if business groups and companies around the world succeed in reducing legal protections against hazardous jobs. In the United States, Big Business and congressional Republicans have launched campaigns to turn back health and safety regulations, claiming they hinder competitiveness.
Workers Memorial Day is observed by trade unions around the globe and today there are observances in more than 50 countries. To find out what’s going on around the world for Workers Memorial Day, click here.
Report: Latino Workers Face Roadblocks on Path to American Dream
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Latinos face tremendous challenges that threaten their prospects for a better life, according to new report.
The report, “Latino Workers in the United States 2011,” released this week by the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), provides an in-depth look at the state of Latino workers.
The recession has hit Latino workers hard, the report says. The unemployment rate among Latinos last month was 11.3 percent, compared with 7.9 percent for white non-Latino workers. Employed Latinos disproportionately work in low-paying jobs. The median weekly income for Latinos in the most recent quarter available in 2010 was $532, while white non-Latinos earned $774. In fact, one in every four Latinos lived below the poverty line in 2009.
Latinos also have the highest high dropout rate, the highest percentage of people without health insurance, the highest occurrence of wage theft and are the most in danger of being killed on the job.
Read the full report here.
To correct these alarming trends, the report calls for a series of policy changes by Congress and the White House. It should begin with a massive jobs program that targets the Latino community. According to the report:
Workers will need training programs in order to full advantage of the good jobs, high wages and career opportunities presented in a new economy. In states and localities with limited English proficient populations, these programs must provide both job and language training. Legislation that better protects the lives and health of workers is a priority.
Finally, the report also calls for the President and Congress to: Read the rest of this entry »
Momentum Builds for Triangle Commemoration
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So much is going on around the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, we want to recap the events we listed last week and point out a few more highlights. The Labor Department announced today a mobile-optimized website to commemorate the anniversary, featuring an audio tour and background of the event. When you travel to one of the locations for the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire you can listen to an audio description of the location by clicking on the link within the page. Check out the site and get more info on the audio tour here.
In recent days, David Von Drehle, author of the 2003 book, Triangle: The Fire That Changed America, spoke with the New Jersey Star-Ledger about the relevance of Triangle today. As Drehle says:
The story is how Triangle came to have such an influence, through organizing, voting, raising awareness, working within the system. That story is still relevant to solve the problems we have today.
Read his full interview here. Read the rest of this entry »
Rand Paul: Easing Unemployment Means More Drug Use
UPDATE: Rand Paul’s campaign says he stands by his claim of helping unemployed workers with drug abuse.
Eddie Vale, AFL-CIO political communications director, brings this to our attention. He’s asking the Paul campaign for a clarification.
Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul has already told miners across Kentucky that “accidents happen” and so the federal government shouldn’t be involved in regulating health and safety on the job. Now he shares how helping jobless workers would create drug abuse. This, from an interview today with WYMT-TV:
Paul says reinvesting money in the local economy will help ease the unemployment, which he says leads to more drug use.
“You want rich people because that’s what creates jobs. If you punish people, they won’t expand or create jobs,” Paul said.
Nurses Set 1-Day Strike for Patient Safety
Some 25,000 registered nurses in California and Minnesota will conduct a one-day strike June 10 over patient care issues in contract negotiations at 15 health systems and hospitals.
The nurses are members of the California Nurses Association (CNA) and the Minnesota Nurses Association(MNA), both affiliated with National Nurses United (NNU). The 13,000 California nurses work at five University of California medical centers and four other hospitals. The 12,000 Minnesota RNs come from six hospital systems that are a part of the Twin Cities hospital systems.
1,000 Nurses Rally for Safe Staffing
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Some 1,000 registered nurses from around the country rallied on Capitol Hill yesterday to show their strong support for legislation to establish minimum nurse-to-patient ratios for all hospitals in the country. The bill is modeled after a California state law that sets minimum ratios there.
With signs that read “I’m A Patient Advocate,” ”Safe Patient Ratios Save Lives” and “Safe Lift Now,” the nurses, members of National Nurses United (NNU), made the case that the care they are able to give their patients is being hampered by long working hours and cutbacks so management can maximize its bottom line.
The rally was made up of nurses like Monica Sanchez, a registered nurse from El Paso, Texas, who told KFOX14-TV she traveled nearly 2,000 miles to send a message to Congress:
We need to do better. We really need to advocate for our patients and get the staffing ratios to help us help the patients.
Another Coal Miner Dies
Another reminder of how dangerous our nation’s coal mines can be: A 28-year-old miner died this morning after an accident last night at the Pocahontas Mine in West Virginia. His death comes two weeks after 29 coal miners were killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine.
The Pocahontas Mine, which is owned by International Coal Group (ICG), is one of the 48 mines identified by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in August 2009 for increased scrutiny. ICG also owned the Sago mine where an explosion in January 2006 killed 12 miners.
After 8 Years of Bush Neglect, Job Safety Gets New Boost from Obama, Solis
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A little more than a year after taking office, the Obama administration and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis have taken significant steps to repair the damage to workplace safety and health left behind after eight years of the Bush administration.
With Workers Memorial Day (April 28) approaching, this is a good time to look at the progress made since the “the new sheriff” hit town. (Click here for fact sheets, fliers, posters, stickers and other Workers Memorial Day materials.)
As Esther Kaplan writes in the Nation:
During the Bush years, the Department of Labor became a cautionary tale about what happens when foxes are asked to guard the henhouse.
For eight years under the Bush Administration, corporate officials and management representatives headed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Bush’s first MSHA head, David Lauriski, was chief safety officer at Emery Mining’s Wilberg, Utah, mine in 1984 when an explosion killed 27 coal miners. The blast, says Kaplan, “was later attributed to numerous violations at the mine.” Read the rest of this entry »
