coal dust

Spring 2013 looked like it would be a banner season for progress by the Obama Administration on new worker safety regulations.  In the Labor Department's most recent regulatory agenda, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) indicated they'd be taking key steps in March through June 2013 on rules to better protect workers from health and safety hazards.  I thought these optimistic projections meant President Obama's second term would be a more productive one than his first.  With the Presidential election behind them, the…
As Liz Borkowski noted on Tuesday, we started a new tradition this year to mark Labor Day in the U.S.  We published The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety: Fall 2011 - Summer 2012.  The 42-page report highlights some of the key research and activities in the U.S. on worker health and safety topics. We know that many advocates, reporters and researchers look forward  every April to the AFL-CIO’s Death on the Job report with its compilation of data on work-related injuries reported, number of federal and state inspections, violations cited, and penalties assessed.  We set out to…