Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH
of Lecturer, Texas State University & Professorial Lecturer Milken Institute School of Public Health.
cmonforton
Posts by this author
March 30, 2011
If you want to keep all your digits and limbs, you probably want to avoid working at Anheuser-Busch's Metal Container Corp., in Arnold, Missouri. That worksite was recently cited by OSHA for hazards related to incidents last fall in which one worker lost fingers in machinery, and another worker…
March 28, 2011
One week from today will mark the first anniversary of the Upper Big Branch coal mine disaster where 29 men lost their lives from an enormous and powerful explosion. Those left behind--the parents, spouses, children and friends---have lives that are changed forever. Ken Ward and Gary Harki of the…
March 25, 2011
The New York Times'' headline read: STREET STREWN WITH BODIES; PILES OF DEAD INSIDE. The article went on this way:"Nothing like it has been seen in New York since the burning of the General Slocum. The fire was practically all over in half an hour. ...it was the most murderous fire that New York…
March 21, 2011
Monique Harper, 41, had a beautiful smile that family and friends will never forget. "Monique was the most hilarious and free-spirited person you will ever meet," said one of her sisters. "She was a mother that loved her children, family and friends." Monique Harper's contagious smile and free…
March 18, 2011
Imagine testifying before a congressional committee as the head of the FDIC and you're asked "do the vast majority of banks care deeply and passionately about their customers?" Or as the head of the FAA and you're asked "do you think the vast majority of airlines care deeply and passionately about…
March 16, 2011
Les Skramstad was a good, decent man who died in January 2007 from mesothelioma at 70 years young. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Mr. Skramstad was a miner and laborer at the infamous vermiculite mine at Zonolite Mountain in Libby, Montana. Mr. Skramstad's death was…
March 9, 2011
"Death takes no holidays in industry and commerce," is how Labor Secretary Willard Wirtz described the toll of on-the-job death and disability for U.S. workers. The Secretary's remarks in 1968 were part of congressional hearings on legislation that ultimately established the Occupational Safety…
March 3, 2011
Editors of The (WV) Charleston Gazette had perfect timing. On the morning of a congressional oversight hearing on the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA) performance, their front page featured an article by reporter Ken Ward Jr. about incomplete inspections and…
February 28, 2011
Roxanne Moyer wondered why managers at her husband's worksite would allow an obvious dangerous condition to exist. Workers could be so "close to molten steel [that it] just poured over on them." Her husband, Samuel Moyer, 32 died earlier this month at Arcelor Mittal's LaPlace, Lousiania steel…
February 21, 2011
Freshman Congressman Larry D. Bucshon (R) of Evansville, Indiana is a cardiothoracic surgeon. His father was an underground coal miner and a member of the United Mine Workers Union for 37 years. Both his grandparents were coal miners. But, Republican-controlled Capitol Hill is now the Twilight…
February 17, 2011
Budget proposals are flying up and down Washington DC's Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and Capitol Hill, as lawmakers and the President wrestle with funding plans for the current and next fiscal years. The House began debate this week on HR 1 (359 pages), a bill to appropriate funds…
February 14, 2011
Annual sales revenue in the nation's restaurant industry tops $515 billion, but few of the 10.3 million workers in the industry earn a living wage. Those are the findings released today of comprehensive surveys of working conditions for 1,700 restaurant workers employed in Washington DC, Miami…
February 8, 2011
I was already tired of President Obama repeating the Republican's rhetoric about big, bad regulations, how they stifle job creation, put an unnecessary burden on businesses, and make our economy less competitive. He did so last month in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and in his State of the…
February 3, 2011
The contrast is striking. Look at the screenshot of the outcome of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs' (OIRA) review of two Labor Department rules to address flaws in our worker health and safety system. One is a proposal by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to crack…
February 1, 2011
The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production (LCSP) is known for challenging the status quo. Its scientists and policy analysts refuse to accept we have to live in a world where parents are worried about toxic toys, or companies feel forced to choose between earning profits and protecting the…
January 25, 2011
The new chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor the Workforce will hold the panel's inaugural hearing on Wed. Jan 26, 2010. The topic: the "State of the American Workforce" with invited testimony from the current Governor of Virginia, president of a conservative think tank, a North…
January 25, 2011
OSHA proposed penalties totaling nearly $1.4 million against two Illinois companies for violations of safety standards that led to the deaths of three workers last summer in grain elevators. Haasbach LLC received 24 violations, including 12 classified as willful, for failing to take steps to…
January 20, 2011
The construction trade association Associated Building Contractors (ABC) was one of 150 business groups that received a letter from Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) in December, asking for their ideas about federal regulations "that have negatively impacted job growth." ABC responded with a list…
January 18, 2011
Have you seen the new TV commercial for Jack-in-the-Box set in a busy police precinct? A confident, all-business police detective barks into the phone:"Tell the Mayor to shove it."
He slams down the phone, walks purposely across the room and asks outloud:
"Hey rookie, did you get lunch?"
A…
January 14, 2011
Hedilberto Sanchez, 26, was killed on Monday (Jan 11, 2010) at a construction site in Elmhurst, NY when an 18-foot high cinder block wall collapsed on him. He leaves behind his wife, and two sons, Luis, 6 and Edison, 3. Three other workers were injured in the incident, including Mr. Sanchez's…
January 10, 2011
Lena works in a turkey processing plant in Iowa. She's up by 5:30 am, eats sensibly, is not overweight and has never smoked tobacco. Lena should be the picture of health, but her job makes her feel much older than her 32 years. Over her 10-hour work shift, she makes about 20,000 cuts on the…
January 4, 2011
After being sworn-in on Wednesday (1/5/11), the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives are promising to do at least two things this week:
(1) read on the House floor the U.S. Constitution, and
(2) repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the healthcare overhaul…
December 21, 2010
By the end of 2011, the Labor Department's worker safety agencies expect to issue six new rules to better protect workers from on-the-job hazards. In the Department's regulatory plan issued yesterday, OSHA projects it will finalize four rules while MSHA expects to complete two new standards. As I…
December 20, 2010
Updated 12/21/2010
Every two weeks, OSHA issues a mini-newsletter called Quick Takes about the agency's activities and other worker health and safety news. The twice monthly electronic publication highlights 8-12 items and nearly always includes at least one report of a major enforcement action.…
December 7, 2010
As I've previously written, a minor revision to the form on which some U.S. employers are required to record work-related injuries remains stuck in the office of the White House's regulatory czar. His review has now extended for 145 days.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects a sample of…
December 1, 2010
Nearly a month ago, I made predictions about what we might read in OSHA's and MSHA's regulatory agendas. The Administration's regulatory plan is supposed to be published in October; it's been an annual requirement since 1993 (see Executive Order 12866.) When I wrote my post last month, the Obama…
November 30, 2010
The US Senate passed today the Food Safety Modernization Act on a by a 73 to 25 vote. More than a dozen Republican Senators broke ranks with their leadership and voted in favor of the bill: Alexander (TN), Brown (MA), Burr (NC), Collins (ME), Enzi (WY), Grassley (IA), Gregg (NH), Johanns (NE),…
November 30, 2010
No doubt that a federal agency's website can be a useful public relations tool. We all have much better access now to government data, reports and other records. That's certainly a good thing. But even the most content-rich website cannot substitute for other forms of communication and…
November 26, 2010
Our friend and APHA OHS colleague Mark Catlin has assembled on YouTube an amazing collection of more than 500 environmental health and safety film clips. The video collection contain footage dating back to the 1920's, with loads WWII-era films produced by the U.S. military, Public Health Service…
November 24, 2010
A second, more powerful explosion today rocked the Pike River coal mine in Greymouth, New Zealand. This event forced government and company officials to declare that the 29 miners are surely dead. The initial blast occurred on Friday, Nov 19 deep in the mine and rescue attempts had been thwarted…