Worker safety

Unions, public health scholars and Washington watchdogs pushed Thursday for a simpler and more transparent regulatory process for creating workplace health and safety rules.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is bogged down under more procedural requirements and higher evidence standards than other agencies, witnesses argued at the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing. 

“In the years since its creation, OSHA’s charge to protect workers from harm has been undermined by Kafkaesque demands for additional reviews of existing rules mandated by new statutes and executive orders,” said Randy Rabinowitz, OMB Watch’s director of regulatory policy.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce shot back that the real problem is OSHA’s inability to prioritize and follow through on regulations. 

On the second anniversary of the Upper Big Branch tragedy, the lawmakers said "our mine safety laws must be reformed."

The top House Democrat with jurisdiction over worker safety renewed his call for Congress to pass mine safety legislation after a new report found understaffed and inexperienced federal officials missed warning signs ahead of the deadliest mining accident in 40 years.

The panel's Republican chairman, meanwhile, vowed to hold a hearing "in the coming weeks" with Mine Safety and Health Administration director Joe Main.

"Today's report is critical to our understanding of the worst mining disaster in more than 40 years," said Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.). "The numerous investigations and reviews will help inform efforts in Washington and across the country to enhance mine safety."

The MSHA internal review found that federal officials' shortcomings did not cause the explosion that killed 29 miners at Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia two years ago. It did, however, fault the agency for missing problems and failing to inspect at-risk areas.

Two high-ranking Democrats involved in the drafting of the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act are urging the Supreme Court not to strike down state workers' ability to sue under the law.

The high court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case brought by a former Maryland state court worker who said he was fired in 2007 after taking 10 days off to treat hypertension and diabetes. The law requires certain employers to allow workers to take up to 12 unpaid weeks off per year to deal for qualified medical and family issues.

The fired man sued for damages, but a lower court tossed out his complaint. Maryland and 26 other states say he should never have been able to sue for damages in the first place, however.

Wednesday's House hearing on worker-safety regulations sparked sharp debate over Republicans' recently released FY 2012 spending bill for the departments of Health, Labor and Education.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Education and Workforce panel on workforce protections, said the "timely" hearing comes with backdrop of an "irresponsible appropriations bill." The $153.4 million draft spending bill released last week contains several workplace safety riders that would block regulators from finalizing an injury and illness prevention program and halt tougher safety rules at residential construction sites.

Simultaneously, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen released a report contradicting Republicans' contention that burdensome regulations are preventing companies from hiring. The report says the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has produced fewer regulations under Presidents George W. Bush and Obama than at any time during the agency's existence.

The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday recognized six winners and runners-up in a semi-annual contest aimed at sparking innovation within the agency's sprawling bureaucracy.

Winners of the HHSinnovates program include designers of a cap lamp that has greatly improved the ability for mine workers around the world to detect floor hazards and peripheral obstacles. Other winners helped create a national database for autism research and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Vital Signs" program for disseminating scientific information to professionals and the general public.

Honorable mentions went to employees who helped Indian tribes access child welfare grants; enabled the rapid retrieval of medical and public health films created by the U.S. government; and established "health and sustainability guidelines" for federal concessions and vending operations.

"Innovation doesn't happen overnight. It requires investment in creative minds," HHS Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry said in a statement. "High-performance government means giving our employees the opportunity to create and invent and serve the American people with all their heart and soul; it means thousands of managers in thousands of workplaces changing the office culture, changing the way they motivate their teams."

Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) hammered Massey Energy this week for "systemic" mine-safety breaches leading to a deadly explosion in a West Virginia coal mine last year.

But Kline, the head of the House labor committee, stopped well short of endorsing tougher regulations for the coal industry, instead calling for stricter enforcement of existing laws.

The issue made headlines this week after the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) charged that the April 2010 explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine could have been prevented if the company had followed existing safety guidelines. The blast killed 29 miners and maimed another – the deadliest mining disaster in more than 40 years.

Kline minced no words blaming Massey for fostering a culture of negligence at the facility.

"It is unconscionable that a mine operator would knowingly jeopardize the health and well-being of his or her workers," Kline said Thursday in an email. "Unfortunately, it’s becoming increasingly clear that unlawful conduct by Massey was part of a systemic failure to protect the miners at Upper Big Branch."

The operator of a West Virginia mine that exploded last year and killed 29 men could have prevented the disaster, federal investigators said Wednesday.

“This explosion could and should have been prevented by the mine operator,” the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) concluded in a presentation outlined during a public briefing on the disaster in Beaver, W.Va.

MSHA’s findings echo those of a report released by a panel of independent experts in May. The report also blamed Massey Energy, the mining operator, for the April 5, 2010, explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine.

New rules on residency training that take effect July 1 "stop considerably short" of guaranteeing the patient safety, healthcare experts argue in a new article that calls for shorter hours for residents.

The 26 experts say residents should not work more than 16 hours without sleep and recommend tying Medicare training funds to work-hour compliance. The recommendations are detailed in the latest issue of the online journal Nature & Science of Sleep.

"The current system amounts to an abuse of patient trust," report co-author Lucian Leape said in a statement. "Few people enter a hospital expecting that their care and safety are in the hands of someone who has been working a double-shift or more with no sleep. If they knew, and had a choice, the overwhelming majority would demand another doctor or leave."

Lawmakers on Thursday criticized the Department of Labor for not appearing at a subcommittee hearing on workplace safety and health.

Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chairman of the Education and the Workforce subcommittee on workforce protections, criticized the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for not appearing at his hearing.

Walberg said he was open to OSHA’s attendance, but admonished the agency, which is housed in the Labor Department, for requiring a 14-day notice to prepare for hearings.

“The concern is they need 14 days as oppose to others that can appear [on] seven days notice,” Walberg said.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) blamed Republicans for OSHA’s absence. “I’m particularly disappointed that the majority has failed to invite OSHA or schedule this hearing with sufficient notice,” said Woolsey.

Walberg countered that Republicans had given the agency sufficient time to prepare for the hearing. “There was seven days notice, which is within the committee rules for this hearing," said Walberg.

Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.), a subcommittee member, said he would like to see OSHA present at future hearings.

OSHA did not comment for this article by press time.

At the hearing, Woolsey lambasted proposed cuts to OSHA while Republicans raised various concerns with the agency's enforcement program. Walberg announced that he is asking the Government Accountability Office to conduct a probe of OSHA's enforcement initiatives.