Worker safety

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.

Millions of home care workers could become eligible for minimum wage and overtime pay this year as federal regulators and lawmakers seek to extend labor protections to the people who clean, cook and care for 13 million elderly or disabled Americans.

Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) announced Thursday her intention to reintroduce legislation that would extend the Fair Labor Standards Act to the home care workforce; Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) is expected to follow suit in the Senate shortly. Proponents of the bill say Republican lawmakers from Maine and Wisconsin — states with many home care workers have indicated an interest, even if none has come out publicly so far.

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor is working on regulations that would have the same effect.

"I think all Americans should be ashamed for the little that we really do provide for home healthcare workers," Sanchez said. "It's shocking to me to think that we rely on this workforce to help care for the ones that we love the most -- our parents, our grandparents -- but we don't do simple things like guaranteeing them minimum wage."

The top Democrat on the Education and Workforce panel said repeatedly Thursday that "Congress has been warned" that inadequate federal regulations are partly to blame for the death of 29 miners in a West Virginia mine last year.

"These disasters are preventable," Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) said on the House floor. "We should not - we must not - wait for another tragedy before Congress owns up to its responsibility."

Miller's speech comes after an independent panel of experts appointed by the governor of West Virginia blamed mine owner Massey Energy for safety failures at the Upper Big Branch mine. The report also recommended giving state and federal inspectors more enforcement powers.

"The state investigation is also a call to action," Miller said. "The panel urges Congress to enact reforms to modernize mine safety technology, to give regulators better tools, strengthen criminal provisions, and to improve the rights of miners."

Miller and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) have introduced legislation that seeks to improve compliance with mine safety and health laws while protecting whistle-blowers in the industry.

The federal agency that oversees worker health and safety is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month by preparing for a showdown with lawmakers focused on slashing the deficit and cutting red tape.

The law that created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had broad bipartisan support when it was signed into law by President Nixon on April 28, 1971, OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels reminded an audience at the liberal Center for American Progress on Thursday. At the time, he said, 14,000 Americans were dying on the job every year — versus 4,400 today — and workers did not even have the right to know what kind of toxic chemicals they were working with every day.

"The empirical evidence is clear: OSHA doesn't kill jobs, it stops jobs from killing workers," he said. "But despite this evidence, and despite the progress we've made, we are today engaged in a great debate over worker protections, over the benefits and costs of regulations, over the taxpayer dollars that this society is willing to invest to ensure that our nation's workers will be able to come home safely after a hard day's work."

The comments come as House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has launched a massive review of government regulations and their impact on job creation. Simultaneously, House Republicans have passed a 2012 budget that reduces spending at government agencies below 2008 levels, which could lead to layoffs and delay pending worker-safety regulations.