Government Affairs Blog

Outreach Training Program

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:18:37 -0500

Seems there are a few OSHA Outreach Training Program trainers who aren't very qualified to teach workplace safety, as well as the fact that there are some who are simply selling their completion certificates. OSHA last week announced they were strengthening their review of the 16,000 independent trainers to "keep a list" of those who have had their training credentials suspended or discontinued. Now, that sounds like a good idea, but perhaps they should simply go back to the drawing board and take a look at how these "trainers" are chosen in the first place. I recieved a letter from one AIHA member who says most CIHs and CSPs have more knowledge than these individuals, yet OSHA doesn't provide any credit for their knowledge and education. While it may be difficult for OSHA to change the progrma at this tage, I believe they should at elast take a look at the credentials of these individuals and determine whether or not there is a better way of ding things.

John Howard back at NIOSH

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:12:14 -0500

Occupational safety and health received the best news in nearly a year last week when Dr. John Howard was reappointed to be director of NIOSH for another six-year term. With Dr. Howard's background and support for his reappointment from nearly every segment of OH&S, it is refreshing to actually hear from someone (in this case the head of CDC) who follows the wishes of the stakeholders. CDC and HHS are to be congratulated for making what should have been an easy decision. NOW - Let's hope that OSHA and NIOSH wrok closely together in the next few years to see that the research and recommendations coming from NIOSH do not fall on deaf years.

NIOSH is the only federal agency conducting OH&S research. We can't do without it - and now we have a permanent director. Good news indeed!

What Will Be The New OSHA Agenda?

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:23:09 -0500

David Michaels has been officially nominated to be the next Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA. When he will be confirmed is anyone's guess. However, let's hope it comes as soon as possible so the agency can work on many of the issues that need to be finalized. What will be the agenda for Mr. Michaels? Hard to say at this point in time but early word is that he will push for a new recordkeeping program, an injury and illness program, increasing training grants, and work to change the way the nation thinks about workplace safety. All very good goals. However, if OSHA is to continue to regain some of its credibility, we need to see some concrete results on some of the many issues that have been on the table for years - GHS, cranes and derricks, confined spaces in construction, silica, beryllium, etc. And let's not forget updating the PELs. Mr. Michaels has said in the past he believes working to update the PELs is not a good use of OSHA resources. If that is truly how he feels, let's hope he has some alternatives in mind. He will have a "honeymoon" period when he takes over, but it won't last long unelss we get the feeling that he can move the agenda forward. Let's also hope that early critics give Mr. Michaels a chance.

Health Care

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:52:46 -0500

Okay, everyone realizes we need to fix the health care system in this country. Congress is now working hard to review the proposal from the Obama Administration and make changes as necessary. The hope is to have a bill on the President's desk by October.

But here's the rub. Over the period of the last three weeks it seems health care is the only thing being discussed on Capitol Hill. And now we have the Supreme Court nominee confirmation hearings.

Here's my question. With more than 40 committees between the House and the Senate, and over a hundred subcommittees, there are only a couple of them debating the health care issue and the supreme court nominee. What the heck are the rest of them doing and why can't we see some additional activity on other issues - occupational health and safety as an example - hint - hint?

I'm getting a little tired of Congress completely shutting down to discuss one issue when few of the Members have anything to do with it at this time. Let's get back to the work of the people - as there are other issues that also impact our citizens.

New Agenda

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:05:13 -0500

The Secretary of Labor and Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA recently spoke at the ASSE conference - detailing that OSHA is back in the enforcement business. Good news or bad news? From my perspective it is great to see the agency have a proactive agenda that goes after bad actors, and an agenda that signifies a push to enact long-awaited standards that need to be finalized. However - let's all wait and see what happens with this agenda before we get too carried away. It is a positive sign the agency has increased penalties on their own - without Congressional action. And it's great to see them send signals that we have a lot of work to do. But again, reality will set in sooner or later and the agency will come to realize it is easier said than done as far as moving standards forward. But the signals they sent last week are very positive. I'm one willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and offer my support for their efforts.

Pandemic Flu

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:37:53 -0500

So who's in charge? A recent Congressional hearing talked about the goal of having one federal agency assume the leadership on pandemic flu. So what happened? The Department of Health and Human Services said that HHS and OSHA should be in charge. The Department of Homeland Security said that the Office of Personnel Management should be in charge. The Government Accountability Office said that all agencies should be working on this and they should be in touch with each other. This after we just averted the first big threat of the H1N1, even though it has now been labeled a pandemic. This is just another sign that we have too many agencies wanting to take control of issues but never following through. And the private sector isn't much better. Nearly 8 years after 9/11 and we seem to have relegated emergency preparedness and response to the back room. We have missed the boat on developing a clear and concise plan for emergencies. Let's just hope it's not too late.

How About Some Concern About OSHA

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:55:17 -0500

Nearly six months into the new administration and we still have no word on who will be nominated as Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA. An early flurry of activity from the administration found dozens and dozens of nominations and confirmations. What about OSHA? I am beginning to believe this administration has decided to let OSHA linger without any permanent leadership for several more months. The name we kept hearing, David Michaels, has not been mentioned in weeks. Is there a problem? Who knows. What I do know is that those who believe the increased activity at the agency will result in completion of many delayed standards,rules, regualtions, etc. had better not get their hopes up.

Updating the PELs

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:06:33 -0500

AIHA is preparing to launch another effort to see if we can find a new process to "update the PELs". But such an effort will only work if we have the "buy-in" of OSHA and the Administration. This remains to be seen. While we have received "off-the-record" support from OSHA that they may even be willing to have a non-voting representative on the working group, I'm a little concerned about what might happen when we have a permanent Asistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA. If the rumor is correct that David Michaels will probably be named the Assistant Secretary, it raises some interesting questions. Mr. Michaels has written that "successive OSHA administrators have simply recognized that establishing new standards is so time and labor-intensive, and will inevitably call forth such orchestrated opposition from industry, that it is not worth expending the agency's limited resources on the issue". Let's hope this is just his opinion on previous efforts at OSHA and are not his view of what he may or may do with the issue. Sure hope this question is raised at any confirmation hearing.

OSHA Responds on AIHA Noise request

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:04:51 -0500

AIHA received a letter from Acting Assistant Secretary for OSHA Jordan Barab in response to our request to lower the PEL for occupational exposure to noise. While Mr. Barab "shares our concerns" about this issue, he essentially told AIHA we must wait for a permanent Assistant Secretary to be put in place before any decisions on standards are made. Let's hope this is not a delaying tactic and that when a new Assistant Secretary is in place this is one of the issues he/she addresses. AIHA first contacted OSHA two years ago requesitng the same thing. Hard to tell how this delay has impacted workers. Problem is, if OSHA does address the issue, it is likely there will be opposition and the delay will continue.

GHS May Be Delayed?

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:58:03 -0500

So, after all this time OSHA finally decides to send the GHS proposal to the Office of Management and Budget for Review? A proposal that should have been out and adopted a couple of years ago. A proposal that essentially is so delayed the U.S. has fallen far, far behind the European union in addressing GHS. But now - guess what? All of a sudden we have some industry folks claiming that the proposal may cause an undue hardship on small business. Now, I'm not questioning whether or not this is true. What I am questioning is the fact that if this is such a concern, why didn't industry address the question anytime during the last three years? But they decided to wait until the proposal moves forward so they can again delay implementation. And we wonder why the process is so messed up!

How about less politics?

Thu, 28 May 2009 11:11:00 -0500

It's probably like speaking to a brick wall, but how about the leadership at OSHA reach out to industry and the professional associations and invite them to a summit with labor to discuss areas where perhaps they might all agree to get something done regarding worker health and safety. It's great that the new administration talks about "bi-partisanship", but let's see if it works. OSHA might be a good place to start! We see OSHA moving forward on many issues (that's great news and they deserve credit), but we also see conflicting statements about VPP and some quotes from potential leaders that "industry can't be trusted". If they really want to protect workers, it's going to take the support of both labor and industry, not what we have seen in the past.

Perhaps someone could just give it a try!

OSHA Regulatory Agenda

Wed, 20 May 2009 07:47:23 -0500

Okay, OSHA has published its semi-annual regulatory agenda. This agenda contains many more items than those from the last two years. And if you recall, labor and many others compained that the previous agenda lacked any important issues and showed little interest in the issues. Now - let's see what happens with this agenda. I do agree that previous agendas were very limited and now the new administration has its chance to show it can move more issues. The proof will come in the next six months as we wait and see exactly what happens. But let's hope everyone understands that if this administration also lacks the means to move the agenda that the same groups complaining when the agenda was short also complain that the new agenda was not successful. Should be an interesting six months.

PR Gimmicks

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:57:18 -0500

Don't get me wrong. I am totally supportive of holding Congressional hearings to discuss issues of importance. But I'm gettign a little tired of hearings being held to simply provide PR for the Committee Chair or others who want to "look good". This week we have three separate hearings to discuss OSHA. One on victims, one on ehanced enforcement and one on penalties - all important issues to be sure. But waht will come of these hearings? I'm willing to bet that not much will happen. But I guess just airing the problems is supposed to be enough

NIOSH

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:01:33 -0500

Okay, I realize the country has many problems the administration has to address. But is it asking too much for them to at least consider finding someone to head up the CDC and NIOSH. It's bad enough the agency has been leaderless for nearly a year already, but the dealy indicates a "less than supportive" effort to seriously look at OH&S research. And don't tell me thee is no one qualified! The best leader NIOSH has ever had, Dr. John Howard, is still available to return to the Institute. If this administration is serious about worker health and safety they can surely find a little time to address this problem.

A Leader With Experience!

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:27:48 -0500

Don't know about you, but I'm beginning to have some concern about who will be the next leader at OSHA. Not worried so much that it could yet take several months; rather the fact that the latest names floating around seem to be those with little "hands-on" experience with OH&S. You would think labor and industry would both agree that if we are to get anything accomplished at this agency it will take someone who understands OH&S, not just politics. I will still give the administration the benefit of the doubt until someone is nominated, but let's hope they pick someone who knows what is going on. Oh yeah, one other thing - you would think the administration might take a few minutes to call the professional OH&S associations to find out what they think about the leadership position. We already know what labor and industry think.