The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety 2015

The Year in U.S.
Occupational
Health&Safety
Fall 2014 Summer 2015
By Kim Krisberg & Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

September 7, 2015
Kim Krisberg is a freelance writer who specializes in

public health. She was on the staff of the American
Public Health Association and continues to write for
the associations newspaper, The Nations Health.
She contributes several times a week to The Pump
Handle blog.
Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH, is project director
of Beyond OSHA and a professorial lecturer at the
George Washington University Milken Institute
School of Public Health. She contributes weekly to
The Pump Handle blog.
The authors thank Liz Borkowski, MPH, for editorial
assistance.
This report was produced with funding from the
Public Welfare Foundation, but the views expressed
in it are those of the authors alone.
Graphic Design: TheresaWellingDesign.com
Table of Contents
Introduction and Overview
I. The Federal Government and Occupational Health and Safety.............................1
Reporting Work-related Hospitalizations and Amputations.......................................................... 3
Protecting Construction Workers in Confined Spaces..................................................................... 3
Protecting Coal Miners from Crushing Injuries ............................................................................... 4
CSB: Controversy, Congress, and Leadership Changes..................................................................... 4
OSHA................................................................................................................................................... 5
MSHA................................................................................................................................................... 9
NIOSH................................................................................................................................................ 13
CSB..................................................................................................................................................... 15
Federal Chemical Safety Measures.................................................................................................. 15
II. Addressing Occupational Health and Safety at the State and Local Levels.......19
New Laws for Temp Workers, Public-Sector Workers, and More.................................................. 19
Local Reporters Draw Attention to Workplace Health and Safety Problems.............................. 25
III. New Research on Worker Health and Safety.......................................................31

Peer-Reviewed Literature................................................................................................................. 31
Reports from Non-Profit Organizations.......................................................................................... 37
IV. National News Coverage of Worker Health and Safety Topics..........................43

Victory for Nail Salon Workers........................................................................................................ 43
Dismantling Workers Compensation............................................................................................. 45
Other National Reporting................................................................................................................ 47
The Year Ahead...........................................................................................................55

Appendix: Peer-Reviewed Research on Occupational Health & Safety Topics
(August 2014 through July 2015)..........................................................................56
The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety: 2015 Report
Temistocle Lucarelli
ii
or the fourth year in a row, The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety takes a look back
at some of the most notable events impacting the lives of workers and their families during
the past year. In the following pages, youll read about regulatory progress and action at the
federal, state, and local levels; new research reports and peer-reviewed science on worker health
and safety; as well as some of the superb and eye-opening reporting happening at media outlets
across the country. You can find previous editions of this report at www.defendingscience.org/
news/new-yearbook-us-occupational-health-safety.
This years report, which covers events that
unfolded between August 2014 and August
2015, is intended as a resource for activists,
regulators, researchers, and anyone else who
values safe and healthy workplaces and wants
to learn more about the tragic consequences
of putting profits over the lives of workers. Of
course, this report is not exhaustive as in
earlier versions, we had to make some tough
choices about what to include and what to
omit. However, we believe weve captured
some of the most important, compelling, and
noteworthy events of the previous 12 months.
Our ultimate goal is to help inform, educate,
and engage readers about the connections
between safe workplaces, fair workplace
policies, and healthy people and communities.
And if theres one thread that weaves its way
throughout our report, its this: All workers
deserve the dignity and respect that come
with enforceable health and safety protections
and the right to speak up without fear of
retaliation.
The week of Labor Day 2015, well be publishing posts about this years report on the public
health blog The Pump Handle (www.science
blogs.com/thepumphandle). During that week,
we invite you to add your own stories about
important worker health and safety happenings from the past year. Our report covers the
following areas:
National News Coverage of Worker Health and
Safety Topics: Perhaps the most noteworthy
occupational health and safety events of
the previous year were the superb reporting
efforts among journalists to expose systemic
disregard for workers health and safety.
Many of the investigative pieces prominently
featured the stories of workers who had been

injured or sickened on the job and their uphill
battles to gain fair and effective recourse.
Among the many journalistic high points
of the year was the Insult to Injury series
from ProPublica and National Public Radio
(NPR), which investigated widespread efforts
to dismantle and weaken state workers
compensation systems. That series found that
in the past decade or so, more than half of
states have enacted reforms to workers
compensation laws that reduce benefits and
make it significantly harder for workers to
access the care they need. The result is that
many workers who incur injury and illness on
the job, as well as their families, are left to fall
into poverty.
At the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), reporters dug into the petrochemical industrys
coordinated efforts to manufacture scientific
doubt on the dangers of benzene exposure
and deny workers compensation for work-related cancers. Also at CPI, reporters published
the investigative series Unequal Risk, which
chronicled the slow-motion tragedy of toxic
workplace exposures and used the long battle
to effectively regulate silica exposure as an
example of the governments failure to protect workers from known dangers. At NPR,
reporters published an award-winning series
on the lives of nurses, who experience more
back and arm injuries than nearly every other
occupation, and yet most hospitals have not
taken aggressive action to prevent such injuries. Just a few months after the nursing series
was published, OSHA announced it would start
cracking down on hospitals that dont employ
practices to prevent nurse injuries.
Other journalistic investigations were followed

by regulatory action as well. For example,
officials in New York took significant action
to protect nail salon workers after a searing
New York Times investigation on the industry
exposed discrimination, wage theft, and an
indifference to the health of workers who are
regularly exposed to hazardous chemicals.
After reporters at NPR and Mine Safety and
Health News found that thousands of mining companies were failing to pay millions in
overdue fines, US labor officials launched an
audit into how the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) handles delinquent mine
safety penalties. And after the eye-opening
ProPublica/NPR investigation into attacks on
the workers compensation system, officials in
California and Alabama took action to better
protect workers who are injured on the job.
The Federal Government and Occupational

Health and Safety: Some good news at the
federal level includes a new rule requiring
employers to report incidents that involve an
amputation, eye loss, or hospitalization of a
worker to the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) within 24 hours of the
event. Within the first six weeks of the rule going into effect in January 2015, OSHA received
more than 1,400 reports of hospitalizations
and amputations. Other bright spots include
new standards for confined spaces within the
construction industry and a new mine safety
regulation to prevent crushing injuries from
mining machines. OSHA also proposed a new
health standard on beryllium, which would impact about 35,000 workers and prevent nearly
100 deaths each year. In the previous year, 42
companies were added to OSHAs Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
This section of the report includes notable
activities at MSHA and the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health, action on
chemical safety measures, and a look at how
the international Ebola outbreak galvanized
health care workers to organize for protections
against infectious diseases.
Occupational Health and Safety at the State
and Local Levels: A number of victories unfold-
ed at the state and local levels this year. On the

paid sick leave front, Massachusetts became
the fourth state to require paid sick leave,
while in California, a new sick leave law took
effect that applies to nearly every employer in
the state. California officials also took steps to
address workplace violence, protect workers
from heat-related illness, and collect data on
chemical hazards. In San Francisco, local officials enacted a Retail Workers Bill of Rights
the first such measure of its kind in the nation.
Worker health and safety issues turned up on
the pages of local media outlets as well, from
reporting on diacetyl exposure among coffee
roasting workers to a new method of counting
occupational fatalities in North Carolina that
significantly undercounts the true toll.
New Research on Worker Health and Safety:
Among the new research advancing the science
of occupational health and safety include
investigations into work-related asthma, skull
fractures, amputations, and carpal tunnel
syndrome. Many researchers focused on workrelated musculoskeletal disorders. Of particular
note, researchers found significant cost-shifting
for musculoskeletal injuries and disorders
from workers compensation to private health
insurance. Scientists also published on fatalities
in the oil and gas industry, farmworkers and
pesticide illness, truckers and seat belt use, and
cancer risk among firefighters.
Nonprofit organizations released a number of
new reports in the previous year subjects
included temporary workers, conditions within
recycling facilities, nursing injuries, trends in
workers compensation, corporate malfeasance, and the job crisis among black Americans.
Workers and advocates made great strides in
the past year, but as many recent headlines
attest, opponents and their allies in Congress
and the state legislatures remain as formidable as ever. As we head into a new year and
another presidential election, workers voices
will remain critical in elevating the connections
between safe jobs, fair workplace policies, and
the health of our nation.
The Federal Government and Occupational

Health and Safety
t the federal level, advocates see the end of the Obama administration on the horizon and are reflecting on what has been accomplished. Employers are now required to
report to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) within 24 hours of
an incident involving an amputation or hospitalization of a worker. Employers in the construction industry must comply with new safety standards for confined spaces. Companies operating
underground coal mines must install proximity detection devices on mining machines to prevent
miners from suffering crushing injuries. OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration
(MSHA) continue to use their respective severe violator and pattern of violation labels to
draw public attention to employers who show little regard for workers lives. The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) seeks to turn a page following the chairs resignation and lingering vacancies.
OSHA issued a new regulation in September

2014 that changed employers requirements
for reporting hospitalizations and certain
serious injuries. Effective January 1, 2015,
employers are required to report to OSHA
within 24 hours any in-patient hospitalization
of an employee, as well as any amputation
or loss of an eye. In the first six weeks under
the new regulation, OSHA reported receiving
more than 1,400 reports of hospitalizations
and amputations. The rule also listed about 80
industries that are exempt from OSHAs injury
and illness recordkeeping requirements, and
converted the industry-identified codes from
the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
system to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
OSHA has been quick to use the newly required employer reports of hospitalization
to promptly issue hazard alerts. For example,
after receiving reports of four separate incidents in July 2015 of Houston workers being
hospitalized for heat-related illnesses, the local
OSHA offices used regional press to bring attention to the hazard. The hospitalizations involved a pipe fitter, a painter, a mechanic, and
a warehouse worker. In addition, a construction worker was the first heat-related death in
the region that same month.
Dmitry Kalinovsky
Work-related Hospitalizations
and Amputations
Protecting Construction
Workers in Confined Spaces
It took two decades, but in May 2015, OSHA
issued a final rule to protect construction
workers from confined space hazards. Initial
work on the regulation began in 1994 when
the Advisory Committee for Construction Safety and Health prepared a draft proposed rule.
OSHA proposed the rule during the George W.
Bush administration, and the comment period
on the proposal closed in 2008. The agency
estimates the rule will prevent six fatalities and
812 serious injuries per year. The Texas Association of Builders filed suit with the US Court
of Appeals for the 5th Circuit challenging the
new rule. The rule took effect August 2015.
The Federal Government and Occupational Health and Safety
Protecting Coal Miners from

Crushing Injuries
In January 2015, MSHA issued a final rule requiring coal mine operators to install proximity
detection devices on underground continuous
mining machines. The devices are designed to
prevent mobile machines from striking workers
in the machines paths. The rule was proposed
in 2011, and MSHA estimates it will prevent
one fatality and five serious injuries every year
among coal miners. The rule will take full effect in March 2018. MSHA has also developed
a proposed rule to protect other mine workers,
including those at metal and aggregate operations, with proximity detection devices on
other types of mining equipment. The agency
submitted the proposal in March 2015 to the
White Houses Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review. As of August
2015, it remains there.
Later that month, CSB Chair Moure-Eraso used

the agencys Twitter account to announce
his resignation. His five-year term was set to
expire in June. His resignation came following
a bi-partisan letter from members of the House
Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform to President Obama, asking him to remove Moure-Eraso, as well as Loeb and Horowitz. Committee Chair Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)
and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD)
wrote: It is clear that the CSB is in a state of
turmoil. It is vital that you act to immediately
remove the toxic leadership that is undermining the agencys critical safety mission.
CSB: Controversy, Congress,

and Resignation
Leadership Changes at
Chemical Safety Board
In March 2015, the House of Representatives

Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform held a hearing on Rebuilding the
Chemical Safety Board: Finding a solution
to the CSBs governance and management
challenges. All four of the confirmed board
members (Rafael Moure-Eraso, Mark Griffon,
Manny Ehrlich, and Rick Engler) testified at
Manuel Manny Ehrlich and Rick Engler were

confirmed by the US Senate in December 2014
to serve five-year terms as members of the CSB.
Both were nominated by President Obama
nearly a year earlier. Ehrlich served most recently as a health, safety, and environmental
consultant, and Engler was the founder and
director of the New Jersey Work Environment
Comm. on Oversight & Govt. Reform
the hearing. The committee focused largely

on a survey finding of low staff morale,
whistleblower complaints, and Inspector
General evidence of the use of private emails
by Chair Moure-Eraso and senior officials
Daniel Horowitz and Richard Loeb to conduct
CSB business.
CSB chair Rafael Moure-Eraso is joined by board members Manny Erhlich, Mark Griffon, and Rick Engler at a hearing of
the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Council. In June, the CSB adopted new rules

to govern its operations, including a requirement for the chair to hold at least four public
meetings per year and changes to address the
Inspector Generals concerns about calendaring. Critics assert that calendaring has been
used by board members to delay the release of
investigation reports and shield controversial
matters from the public.
tect construction and maintenance workers

from electrical hazards. The new regulation on
electric power generation, transmission, and
distribution was issued in April 2014. It requires
better coordination between host employers
and contractors, fall protection for workers
climbing poles and towers, and training for
tree trimmers clearing electrical lines.
President Obama nominated Kristen

Kulinowski and Vanessa Sutherland to serve
five-year terms at the CSB as member and
chair, respectively. The Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee held a confirmation hearing in April 2015 on Sutherland and
one on Kulinowski in July. Sutherland testified:
I absolutely commit to being collaborative
and understanding that what we do is as
important as how we do it. Chairs do not have
unilateral authority to make all decisions for
the board. Sutherland was chief counsel for
the Department of Transportations Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, and Kulinowski was with the Science
and Technology Policy Institute. The Senate
confirmed Kulinowski and Sutherland in early
August 2015.
Eye and face protection
OSHA
Crane safety
OSHA announced in October 2014 changes to
requirements in its crane safety rule. When the
rule was issued in August 2010, crane operators were to be certified within three years as
competent to operate the equipment safely.
OSHA extended the deadline for this requirement to November 2017, citing inadequacies
in the existing crane operator certification
programs.
Electrical hazards rule

OSHA reached an agreement in February
2015 with the Utility Line Clearance Coalition, Edison Electric Institute, and the Tree
Care Industry Association to settle the groups
lawsuit challenging the agencys rule to pro-
OSHA proposed in March 2015 changes to its

eye and face protection requirements to make
them consistent with current American National Standards Institute standards. The changes
would apply to all industries covered by OSHA.
The comment period ended in April 2015.
Protecting workers exposed to

beryllium
In August 2015, OSHA proposed a new health
standard on beryllium, a lightweight and extremely strong metal. Exposure to it can cause
chronic beryllium disease (CBD) and lung cancer. The proposal comes more than three years
after the United Steelworkers and Materion
the nations leading producer of beryllium
sent OSHA a negotiated draft standard on
the metal. The proposal announced by OSHA
would reduce the permissible exposure limit
from 2.0 ug/m3 to 0.20 ug/m3 and require employers to provide medical surveillance, among
other protections. About 35,000 workers
would be affected by the rule, and an estimated 96 deaths and 50 cases of CBD will be avoided each year if the proposal is adopted.
Clarifying employers duty to

maintain injury records
In late July 2015, OSHA issued a proposed rule
to clarify employers responsibility to maintain
injury and illness records for five years after the
calendar year in which the incident occurred.
The proposal stems from an adverse decision in
2012 against OSHA by the US Court of Appeals
for the DC Circuit (the Volks decision). The
US Dept. of Labor
court ruled that if OSHA wants to issue a citation for failing to record an injury, the agency
must do so within six months from the injury
date. OSHAs proposed rule makes the case
that failing to maintain accurate injury records
should be considered a continuing violation,
for which an employer can be cited as long as
the records remain incomplete.
OSHA standards on chemical

hazards
In October 2014, OSHA issued a request for

information (RFI) on its approach to managing
workers exposure to hazardous chemicals.
Specifically, in order to streamline the process
for evaluating the health risks of exposure to
a chemical, OSHA is considering a three-stage
process: a dose-response analysis in the observed range, a margin of exposure determination, and, if necessary, an exposure-response
extrapolation. The RFI contained several dozen
questions about which the agency was seeking
comments. Following requests from numerous stakeholders, including the AFL-CIO and
the American Industrial Hygiene Association,
to allow additional time for public input, the
comment period will close in October 2015.
Safety protection for

communication tower workers
In October 2014, US Secretary of Labor Tom
Perez and Tom Wheeler, chair of the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), established
a working group to develop and implement
recommended safety practices to protect workers in the telecommunications industry. Staff
from OSHA and the FCC make up the working
group. The agencies also hosted a workshop
for stakeholders. It included Kathy Pierce, the
mother of Chad Weller, 21, who suffered a
fatal fall in March 2014 while repairing a communications signal on a water tower.
In April 2015, OSHA issued a request for information on ways to protect communication
industry workers from serious injuries and
deaths, including best practices already in use
Labor Secretary Tom Perez, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler,

and OSHA chief David Michaels sign a safety working
group agreement related to tower workers.
by workers and employers. The comment period closed in June 2015.
High-profile and significant

enforcement cases
Over the last year, OSHA issued nearly 500
news releases announcing citations and penalties against employers who violate safety and
health regulations. A few of the high-profile
cases that attracted our attention include:
Ashley Furniture received citations in January
2015 and July 2015 for willful violations related
to machine guarding. Numerous workers at
the companys facility in Arcadia, WI, have suffered amputations because of the employers
failure to protect its workers from moving machine parts. The July 2015 citations came about
after OSHA learned of an amputation that
Ashley Furniture failed to report as required by
new reporting requirements that took effect in
January 2015. OSHA proposed penalties totaling $1.8 million against the firm.
The discount store Dollar Tree was the subject
of at least 50 inspections over the last year,
many of which stemmed from complaints. The
company racked up more than $1 million in
penalties in a 12-month period. In April 2015,
for example, OSHA proposed $116,200 in

penalties against the firm for hazards at one of
their Houston stores, followed by an additional $121,000 for dangerous conditions at two
of the firms Chicago-area shops. Most of the
violations involved boxes stacked to dangerous
heights and blocked exit doors.
OSHA chief David Michaels called Lloyd Industries a serial violator of OSHA safety
standards in a May 2015 announcement of
$822,000 in proposed penalties. The inspection
commenced following an incident in which a
workers fingers were amputated. OSHA noted
that following previous inspections, Lloyd
Industries agreed to correct similar hazards,

but failed to do so. The citations included 10
classified as willful. The company manufactures
ventilation, duct, and fire safety products.
Railroad giants Union Pacific and BNSF continue to be the subject of OSHA investigations for
retaliating against workers who raise safety
concerns. In March 2015, Union Pacific was ordered to pay $350,000 in damages to a worker
who was disciplined after reporting an injury
and seeking medical attention for it. OSHAs
regional administrator in Kansas City, Marcia
Drumm, said Union Pacific has a culture of
retaliation, noting it was the third time in as
Supreme Court rules in favor of pregnant UPS worker

In March 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that a former UPS worker must be given another chance to prove that the company discriminated against her because she was pregnant.
In the majority ruling, Justice Stephen

Breyer wrote: Viewing the record in
the light most favorable to Young,
there is a genuine dispute as to whether
UPS provided more favorable treatment
to at least some employees whose situation cannot reasonably be distinguished
from Youngs.
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
The case goes back to 2006, when worker Peggy Young became pregnant and her doctor
restricted her to lifting no more than 20 pounds. In turn, Young asked her employer, UPS,
to accommodate the doctors recommendations. The company refused, forcing Young to
take unpaid leave and lose her health insurance benefits. In 2007, Young sued UPS, claiming the company violated the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act because it provided
less-strenuous work to workers who needed it for other reasons. The March Supreme Court
decision doesnt determine whether UPS did indeed violate the law; it kicks the case back
down to the lower courts, which had
previously thrown out the case before it
got to trial.
In commenting on the courts ruling,

Judith Lichtman, senior advisor at the
National Partnership for Women and Families, said: The decision also issues a clear and
welcome message to employers that accommodating most non-pregnant workers with
injuries or disabilities while refusing to accommodate most pregnant workers is against the
law. All employers should now re-examine their policies to ensure that pregnant women
will not face discrimination on the job.
Severe Violator Enforcement

Program
During the previous year, 42 companies were

added to OSHAs Severe Violator Enforcement
Program (SVEP), making them subject to special follow-up inspections. The new entries include: Ashley Furniture; US Steel Corp.; Nabors
Services, which serves the oil and gas industry;
and building contractor Case Development.
There are now approximately 450 firms on the
SVEPs list of bad actors. The industries most
represented on the list are construction as
well as support services for oil and gas. OSHA
launched the program in 2010 to focus attention on employers in high-hazard industries
with significant willful or repeat violations.
Ergonomic-related citations to
poultry plants
OSHA issued citations in October 2014 to
Wayne Farms in Jack, AL, for hazards related
to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). It was
the first time in more than a decade that the
agency used its general duty clause (GDC) to
address ergonomic hazards faced by poultry
workers. The GDC requires employers to provide workplaces free from recognized hazards,
including hazards that are not addressed by a
specific OSHA standard. OSHA scrutinized the
companys medical management of MSDs and
found that workers were seen dozens of times
by company nurses, but rarely referred for appropriate medical care. The Southern Poverty
Law Center filed the inspection complaints on
behalf of poultry workers. The company contested the citations and the $102,600 penalty.

Poultry workers represented by the United

Food and Commercial Workers filed a complaint with OSHA for ergonomic and other
hazards at Allen Harim Foods in Harbeson, DE.
OSHA found workers were at risk of carpal
tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, trigger thumb,
and other conditions because of excessive
force, exertion, and repetitive motion over
extended periods of time. The agency used its
GDC to cite the company in June 2015 for the
ergonomic hazards and proposed a long list of
ways Allen Harim could address them.
In another move directed at poultry workers,
OSHA and the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA) sent a special poster to all US poultry
processing facilities. The poster tells workers to
report early signs of MSDs, including locking
or stiffness in their fingers as well as waking at
night with hand numbness or tingling. Displaying the poster is a requirement under a new
USDA inspection system, and the agencies sent
it to more than 250 poultry plants across the
country.
McDonalds workers file OSHA

complaints
In March 2015, employees from 28 McDonalds
restaurants in 19 cities filed complaints with
OSHA about safety violations. The complaints
were announced on the same day that the
National Council for Occupational Safety and
Health (National COSH) released results of a
survey on working conditions for fast food
123RF Photo
many years that the company was found violating the whistleblower provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act. In June 2015, OSHA
ordered BNSF to reinstate a train conductor
and pay him more than $535,000 in damages
after finding the company retaliated against
the worker for reporting an injury. OSHAs
regional administrator in San Francisco, Ken
Atha, warned other employers: Disciplining
an employee for reporting an injury is illegal.
Scott McCaw/NIEHS
and hospitalizations, as well as improving OSHAs website, publications, and communication

tools.
Debbie influenced the agencys work in many
positives ways, said the colleague. The good
we accomplished, the changes we made, both
big and small, have her fingerprints.
MSHA
Industry challenges to MSHA rules
Debbie Berkowitz addresses an audience at a NIEHS

worker education and training event.
workers. The survey had more than 1,400

respondents and was conducted in February
2015. Key findings included: 79 percent of fast
food workers had been burned on the job
within the past year; 45 percent reported that
they did not receive appropriate treatment for
their burns; and 33 percent said their managers
suggested using mustard, mayonnaise, or
other condiments to treat the burns. As of
mid-August, OSHA citations had not been
issued in response to the complaints.
Farewell to OSHAs Debbie

Berkowitz
Shes the hardest working person in the building, said a colleague about Debbie Berkowitz.
OSHAs chief of staff and senior policy advisor
departed the agency in September 2015 after
nearly seven years of service. She was appointed to OSHA in the initial weeks of the Obama
administration and played a vital role in the
agencys policy and management decisions.
Berkowitzs roots and experience with the
United Food and Commercial Workers union
were reflected in some of OSHAs most
high-impact activities, including the 2010 National Action Summit for Latino Worker Health
and Safety, the Susan Harwood training grants
focus on temporary and immigrant workers,
the new regulation on reporting amputations
The US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit

heard oral arguments in March 2015 in a challenge to an MSHA regulation to protect coal
miners from exposure to respirable coal mine
dust. Labor Secretary Tom Perez announced
the new rules in April 2014. They were immediately challenged by the National Mining
Association, the Alabama Coal Association,
Murray Energy, and other mining interests. The
rule remains in effect, and as of August 2015,
the court has not issued an opinion.
The US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
rejected an industry lawsuit that challenged
MSHAs policy of defining a pattern of violations. The Mine Act gives the agency authority to use stepped-up enforcement against mine
operators who have a pattern of violations,
but MSHA had not used the authority prior
to November 2013. The court dismissed the
lawsuit, which was brought by the National
Mining Association; the National Stone, Sand
and Gravel Association; and others, explaining
that the courts jurisdiction to review extended
to health and safety standards, not to policies
for monitoring mine operators compliance
with them.
Upper Big Branch disaster follow-up

The House Education and the Workforce
Committee marked the fifth anniversary of the
Upper Big Branch (UBB) disaster with a hearing
featuring MSHA chief Joe Main. The chair of
the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections,
Tim Walberg (R-MI), joined Reps. Bobby Scott
(D-VA) and Federica Wilson (D-FL) in friendly
remarks about MSHAs enforcement initiatives
continued on page 12
Ebola outbreak prompts calls for health care worker training, protection
In August 2014, the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa
a public health emergency of international concern. So far in the US, the only people to
have contracted the virus domestically were two health care workers. The workers two
nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas were infected while caring for a
patient who had recently traveled to Texas from Liberia and who became the first patient
diagnosed with Ebola in the US. Fortunately, both nurses survived the infection and didnt
transmit the disease to others. But their experiences highlighted the critical importance of
hospital preparedness plans that include robust measures to protect workers from dangerous
diseases and prevent transmission into the community.
Reflecting on lessons learned in US hospitals caring for Ebola patients, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in October 2014 released Ebola-specific guidance on
personal protective equipment (PPE) use among health care workers. The key points: All
health care workers should receive repeated training and have demonstrated competency in
Ebola-related infection control and especially in putting on and taking off PPE; while working
in PPE and caring for Ebola patients, workers should have no skin exposed; and the safe care
of Ebola patients should be overseen by an onsite manager at all times, while each step in PPE
procedures should be supervised by a trained supervisor. During an Oct. 20, 2014, press briefing on Ebola response and PPE, CDC Director Tom Frieden said: The guidelines go through
great detail and much more than CDC guidelines generally do in terms of what are the things
that need to be done, but while a lot of attention has been paid to the equipment and while
thats critical and important, the greatest risk in Ebola care is in the taking off of whatever
equipment (a) health care worker has on (and) whether theres skin exposed or not.
10
Reinhard/National Nurses United
At OSHA, the agencys only disease-specific requirement to protect health care workers
refers to bloodborne pathogens and was developed decades ago in response to HIV and
hepatitis; the agency has no standard to address occupational exposure to infectious agents
transmitted by contact, droplets, and airborne routes. But OSHA did state on its Ebola Web
page: Under the bloodborne pathogens standard, and the PPE and other standards, OSHA
has the ability to require employers to fully protect health care and other workers who may
be exposed to Ebola virus.
Nurses march outside the White House as part of a

nationwide day of action (November 2014).
In October 2014, National Nurses United

(NNU) released the results of a survey
of more than 700 registered nurses at
more than 250 hospitals in which 80
percent said their hospitals had not
communicated any policy regarding the
potential admission of Ebola patients.
In addition, 87 percent said their hospitals had not provided Ebola education,
one-third reported insufficient supplies
of eye protection and fluid-resistant
gowns, and nearly 40 percent said their
employers did not have plans to equip
isolation rooms with plastic-covered
mattresses and pillows and to discard all
continued on next page
The actions paid off: In November, the California Department of Public Health and California Division of Occupational Safety and
Nurses in New York City hold a vigil for global Ebola
Health (Cal/OSHA) issued new requirements
awareness.
that hospitals must follow to protect workers from Ebola. The new measures, which
were the first in the US and went far beyond
the voluntary CDC standards, require California hospitals to provide full-body protective
suits to all those caring for confirmed and
suspected Ebola patients as well as to those
who clean contaminated areas. Hospitals
must also provide a powered air-purifying
respirator with a full hood or cowl for any
nurse in contact with suspected or confirmed
Ebola patients. Other requirements include
training on how to properly put on and
National Nurses United and the California Nurses
take off PPE, involving nurses in developing
Association host a meeting on workplace safety
measures on Ebola (October 2014).
exposure control plans, and protecting the
rights of nurses to speak up about violations
of the new requirements. If hospitals dont comply with the new guidelines, which build off
of existing state standards, they can face penalties.
National Nurses United
linens after use. With the support of NNU,

on Nov. 12, 2014, nurses across the country,
including nearly 20,000 in California, went
on strike and picketed hospitals to demand
better and enforceable protections against
Ebola.
continued from previous page
With the hospital industry dismissing the concerns of the nurses, and the federal government failing to order the hospitals to implement the optimal level of Ebola protection,
California, under the stewardship of Gov. (Jerry) Brown, has heard the voices of nurses and
established a model that all should follow, said California Nurses Association Co-President
Zenei Cortez in a NNU blog post.
Following Cal/OSHAs announcement, NNU called on federal OSHA to follow suit. Prior to Ebola reaching US shores and in a move unrelated to the Ebola outbreak, OSHA had announced
in June 2014 that it would convene a Small Business Advocacy Review Panel to provide insight on a possible infectious diseases standard. In their review, which was released in January
2015, many panelists questioned the need for such a standard one small entity representative said market forces would do a better job protecting workers than OSHA regulations.
In May 2015, the agencys regulatory agenda indicated a regulation on infectious diseases
would not be a priority and it was moved into the category for long-term actions.
Cal/OSHA Ebola requirements: www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/EbolaVirusInformation.htm
11
following the April 5, 2010, disaster that killed

29 coal miners at the Massey Energy mine.
Without mentioning the companys former
CEO Don Blankenship by name, Walberg said:
Upper Big Branch is a terrible reminder that
bad actors will look for ways to cut corners and
jeopardize the well-being of their workers,
despite a moral and legal obligation. Assistant Secretary Main described changes needed
to the Mine Act to make the agency more
effective, many of which are addressed in the
proposed Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Act. Rep.
Wilson urged Chairman Walberg to take up the
legislation, but he did not commit to doing so.
Protecting miners from respirable

coal and silica dust
The Labor Departments Office of Workers

Compensation Programs proposed changes to
its regulations for coal miners who file claims
for disability benefits for black lung disease.
The proposed changes come in response to an
investigation by the Center for Public Integrity
and for which reporter Chris Hamby received a
Pulitzer Prize in 2014. Hamby found that some
coal companies withhold medical evidence that
supports a miners claim in an effort to fight
the disabled workers application for benefits.
The comment period on the Labor Departments proposal ended in June 2015.
Supporting safety whistleblowers

A record number of mine workers were reinstated to their jobs after being retaliated
against for raising safety complaints. The
agency supported the complaints of 49 mine
workers who had been discharged, suspended, or suffered other adverse action for exercising their rights under the Mine Act. In
circumstances in which MSHA did not accept
a miners complaint, the worker has the right
to file a private lawsuit against his employer.
Such a right does not exist for workers covered
MSHA announced in April 2015 that 99 percent

of air samples collected in underground and
surface coal mines were in compliance with
the agencys exposure limit based on a single,
full-shift sample. The agencys findings follow a
new regulation, issued in August 2014, intended to protect coal miners from black lung
disease. Previously, compliance with respirable
dust exposure limits was based on the average
of five samples, which masked coal miners
typical exposures and absolved mine operators
from reducing dust levels.
Despite calling it a priority, MSHA has yet to
publish a proposed rule to address miners
exposure to respirable crystalline silica. Since
early in the Obama administration, the agency indicated it would rely on OSHAs silica risk
assessment to develop a rule to protect mine
F. Brian Ferguson/Center for Public Integrity
12
The federal criminal trial of former Massey

Energy CEO Don Blankenship is scheduled to
begin in October 2015. In July, Blankenships
attorneys filed a motion asking that potential
jurors be instructed that the case does not
concern the UBB explosion or responsibility for
it. His attorneys assert: The cause of the UBB
explosion is not relevant to any of the charges
against Mr. Blankenship. The US Justice Department charged the former CEO with conspiring to thwart mine inspections and willfully
violating mine safety regulations.
workers. MSHAs Spring 2014 regulatory agenda projected it would propose a silica rule in
April 2016.
Retired coal miner Steve Day, 67, is tethered to an oxygen

tank 24 hours a day.
David Isaacson/National COSH
by OSHA. MSHA credits its outreach to mine

workers about their whistleblower rights for
the increased number of cases.
Website offers new data search tool

MSHA released a new online tool to allow users to compare a mining operations violations
of selected safety standards to the national
average. For years, mine-specific violations,
penalties, injury reports, exposure sampling
results, and other data have been available on
the agencys website. This new feature focuses on a subset of safety violations that most
frequently cause or contribute to fatalities and
serious injuries.
NIOSH
Silicosis mortality update
In a Notes from the Field update published
June 15, 2015, in Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) scientists
found that despite positive trends in eliminating the occupational lung disease silicosis,
deaths from this condition continue. Of particular concern to researchers were silicosis deaths
among young adults ages 15 to 44 12 such
deaths happened between 2011 and 2013. The
researchers wrote: These young deaths likely
reflect higher exposures than those causing
chronic silicosis mortality in older persons,
some of sufficient magnitude to cause severe
disease and death after relatively short periods
of exposure.
In a related NIOSH Science Blog post, NIOSH researchers Jacek Mazurek and David Weissman
wrote that continuing occurrence of silicosis
deaths in young adults and reports of new occupations and tasks that place workers at risk
for silicosis underscore the need for strengthening efforts to limit workplace exposure to
respirable crystalline silica. They encouraged
physicians to consider reporting cases of silicosis to local health departments. The occupational disease is a reportable condition in just
25 states.
13
Jay Herzmark and Alejandro Zuniga urge the Obama
administration to issue a standard to protect workers
exposed to silica dust (June 2015).
Assessing the health of metal, nonmetal miners

In April 2015, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) issued a call for public
comments on paperwork requirements related
to its proposed collection of information on
the health of metal and nonmetal (MNM) mining workers. (MNM mining refers to all other
types of mining except for coal.) The effort is
designed to pinpoint opportunities for reducing the prevalence and severity of occupational
disease. The proposed NIOSH effort, known as
the Metal and Nonmetal Miner Health Program, would gather health data pertaining
to an estimated 66,000 workers and 81,000
contractors in the MNM, sand, stone, and
gravel mining industry in the US. According to
the Federal Register notice, the data collection
would address a gap in knowledge on disease
burden and health status among such miners,
as no such surveillance system currently exists
in the non-coal mining sector. The notice reads:

Work in this industry exposes miners to recognized hazards including noise, heat, repetitive
stress, sleep deprivation, fumes, diesel exhaust,
silica and other mine dusts, and radon gas, but
the extent to which modern mining practices
have mitigated these hazards is unknown.
NIOSH reported that millions of workers still

smoke higher smoking rates are typically
found among workers in the blue-collar sector
and millions more workers are still exposed
to secondhand tobacco smoke on the job.
Among its recommendations, NIOSH urged employers to incorporate tobacco cessation support programs into their workplace wellness
efforts and to maintain tobacco-free policies
across entire workplace campuses.
NIOSH plans to administer a 25-page questionnaire to current and former MNM mine
workers. The effort, which would initially focus
on Western states, would also bring a mobile
health clinic to mining sites to administer
physical exams and collect blood samples from
workers who volunteer to take part. The public
comment period closed in June 2015.
Dmytro Tolmachov
Upward trend in workplace suicides
14
NIOSH addresses electronic cigarette

use
In April 2015, NIOSH issued Current Intelligence Bulletin 67, which builds on previous
recommendations that workplaces institute
tobacco-free policies and includes NIOSHs
first guidance on electronic cigarettes in the
workplace. Due to limited data on the effects
of secondhand exposure to electronic cigarette
vapors, NIOSH recommended that the emerging tobacco products be included in indoor
smoking bans. As of 2014, NIOSH reported that
three states and 200 localities had included
electronic cigarettes in their public smoking
bans.
In analyzing federal health and labor statistics

between 2003 and 2010, NIOSH researchers
found that while workplace suicides had been
decreasing, such deaths took a sharp upward
turn in 2008. Between 2003 and 2007, workplace suicides ranged between 210 and 182 per
year; in 2008, the number jumped to 247. The
findings were published in March 2015 in the
American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The highest workplace suicide rate was found
among those in the protective services (firefighters, law enforcement), at 5.3 per 1 million workers, followed by workers in farming,
fishing, and forestry occupations, at 5.1 workplace suicides per 1 million workers. Workers
in installation, maintenance, and repair occupations experienced a workplace suicide rate
of 3.3 per 1 million. Within the installation,
maintenance, and repair category, researchers uncovered a somewhat new and startling
finding: workers in automotive maintenance
and repair occupations had a workplace suicide
rate of 7.1 per 1 million. Workplace suicides
were 15 times higher for men than for women and about four times higher for workers
ages 65 to 74 than for workers ages 16 to 24.
Researchers hypothesized that one contributor
to high suicide rates within certain occupations
may be easier access to lethal means, such as
firearms.
While the US has experienced dramatic declines in its adult smoking rate and public and
workplace smoking bans are commonplace,

Completed investigations
In January 2015, the CSB closed the investigation of three incidents. It issued its final report
on the August 2012 release of flammable
vapor and resulting fire at the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, CA. The CSB made recommendations to Chevron, the state of California, Contra Costa County, and the American
Petroleum Institute, among others. It also
released its final report on the October 2012
explosion and fire at US Ink in Rutherford, NJ.
Seven workers were injured in the incident.
The CSB made recommendations to US Ink,
the state of New Jersey, and OSHA, and it was
the fifth time the CSB recommended to OSHA
that it develop a standard to address combustible dust. In addition, the CSB issued a safety
bulletin concerning the August 2010 release
of anhydrous ammonia at Millard Refrigerated Services in Theodore, AL. More than 130
individuals sought medical attention, including
four people suffering severe injuries following
the chemical release. The CSBs safety bulletin
did not contain any recommendations.
Federal Chemical Safety

Measures
Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA) expressed strong displeasure
during a December 2014 congressional hearing
about the Obama administrations progress
on improving safety at chemical facilities.
Following the April 2013 explosion at West
Fertilizer, at which 15 people died, including 12
emergency responders, the president issued an
executive order (EO 13650) calling for interagency coordination and modernized policies
and regulations. Boxer asserted that only four
of the 15 actions outlined in the EO have been
completed. When the senator pressed OSHA
chief David Michaels for dates when key initiatives would be completed, Michaels replied:
Our regulatory system is broken.
In March 2015, hundreds of organizations
and individuals, including the Communication
Workers of America, the United Steelworkers,
and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, wrote to
President Obama urging prompt action to ad-
In March 2015, the CSB issued a technical analysis of the July 2010 explosion and fire at the
Horsehead Holding company. The zinc recycling facility is located in Monaca, PA. The incident killed two workers: James Taylor, 53, and
Corey Kellerat, 41. The CSBs technical analysis
did not contain any recommendations.
As of August 2015, the CSB had seven open
investigations: Caribbean Petroleum Refining
15
CSB investigators at the Chevron refinery in Richmond,

CA.
tank explosion (San Juan, PR (October 2009));

Deepwater Horizon explosion (April 2010);
West Fertilizer explosion (West, TX (April
2013)); Willam Olefins plant explosion (Geismar, LA (June 2013)); Freedom Industries chemical release (Charleston, WV (January 2014));
DuPont LaPorte chemical release (LaPorte, TX
(November 2014)); and ExxonMobil refinery
explosion (Torrance, CA (February 2015)).
Explosion and fire at the Caribbean Petroleum

Corporation near San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Workers Memorial Week: Remembering Lives Cut Short

New Labor
Occupational health and safety (OHS) advocates used this years Workers Memorial
Week (April 26 - May 2, 2015) to convene
vigils, rallies, cultural performances, and
other public events to call for safer workplaces. More than 100 events took place
across the country, from Lewiston, ME, and
Toledo, OH, to Lincoln, NE, and Cerritos,
CA. News coverage of the events included:
Hundreds gather at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple
Casper (WY) Star Tribune reported on the
in New Brunswick, NJ, to urge support for workplace
states fourth annual Workers Memorial
safety and dignity.
Day (WMD) event. Wyoming Gov. Matt
Mead spoke at the memorial service,
noting his own personal experience losing a loved one from a work-related injury. In
1996, Meads mother was thrown from a horse while working at the familys cattle ranch.
Wyoming has one of the nations highest work-related fatality rates, and the governor
described efforts to address the problem, such as offering incentives to employers to make
their workplaces safe. Family members attending the event offered their own ideas, including hiring more inspectors and paying them better salaries.
Coverage at: http://bit.ly/1DKS4de

16
Jane Von Bergen of the Philadelphia Inquirer described that citys WMD commemoration
in the context of four worker deaths that occurred in the two weeks preceding the event.
One of those workers, Benjamin Hattendorf, 42, was killed at a construction site in view of
PhilaPOSHs offices. PhilaPOSH is the key organizer of the areas annual WMD gathering and
march. PhilaPOSHs Barbara Rahke told the reporter that she had seen Hattendorf at breakfast in her buildings cafeteria the morning of the incident, and that his death was really
unbelievable. The Philadelphia ceremony, which features a bagpiper playing Amazing
Grace, is memorable for its other traditions. Von Bergen writes: ...the mourners, one by
continued on next page
dress chemical safety. They warned that your
Administration is running out of time. The
groups called on Obama to take decisive action
to prevent chemical explosions and releases.
The Obama administration released in June
2015 a factsheet outlining steps it has taken
to improve chemical facility safety and security. It was a status report on the presidents
EO 13650. OSHA, for example, noted its
progress on proposing changes to its process
safety management regulation. The agency
said it had initiated in June a Small Business
Regulatory Flexibility Review Act panel to get
feedback from small businesses. By the end of

August, the panel had not yet been convened.
TSCA Reform
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is
neither effective at protecting the public
from chemicals already in use nor adequate in
requiring manufacturers to demonstrate the
safety of new toxic materials they produce. A
poster child for TSCAs inadequacy is asbestos.
EPA tried to ban the deadly mineral in 1989,
but it could not meet the laws steep legal burden when challenged by the industry.
Worker Defense Project
Workers Memorial Week

continued from previous page
one, cast a single red rose into the Delaware River ...the petals floated away, bright
spots of red on dark water 144 roses this
year, one for each person killed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware from
March 2014 to March 2015.
Coverage at: http://bit.ly/1ISDEYj
Several OHS advocacy groups released

reports during Workers Memorial Week,
including:
Ben Bradshaw of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 100

speaks at the city hall in Dallas, TX, and describes the
heavy toll of work-related injuries.
Dying for Work in California: The Hidden Stories Behind the Numbers 2015
(www.worksafe.org/2015_Dying_at_Work_in_California.pdf)
Dying for Work in Massachusetts: Loss of Life & Limb in Massachusetts

(www.mediafire.com/view/9bo11sreqkwzd08/Dying_for_Work_4-28-15_Updated_Version.pdf)
Not an Accident: Preventable Deaths 2015, National COSH

(www.coshnetwork.org/sites/default/files/Not-an-Accident-2015.pdf)
Tennessee Workers: Dying for a Job

(www.coshnetwork.org/sites/default/files/uploads/Tennessee_2015.pdf)
The Price of Life: 2015 Report on Construction Fatalities in NYC

(http://nycosh.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/NYCOSH_PriceofLife05112015.pdf)
Worker Memorial Day Report 2015: Workplace Fatalities in the Houston Area
(http://defendingscience.org/sites/default/files/WMD_Houston_Report_2015.pdf)
Workplace Deaths in Southeast Florida 2015

(www.coshnetwork.org/sites/default/files/Florida_Fatalities.pdf)
Key features of each report are profiles of workers killed on the job, perspectives on
deaths related to occupational illnesses, and commentary on the importance of remembering by name the victims of workplace hazards.
Congress is the closest its been in years to

amending the broken law. Committees in both
the US House and Senate advanced bi-partisan
legislation to amend TSCA. The TSCA Modernization Act (HR 2576) was unanimously approved in June 2015 by the House Committee
on Energy and Commerce and passed the full
House on June 23, 2015, by a 398-1 vote.
In the Senate, the TSCA reform bill proposed
by Sens. David Vitter (R-LA) and Tom Udall
(D-NM), S.697, is largely opposed by environmental, labor, and public health groups, but
favored by the chemical industry. Half of the

bills 40 co-sponsors are Democrats. Opponents
note that S.697 fails to define the term unreasonable risk, and warn that it will interfere in
individual states actions to address chemical
hazards, as well as restrict the Environmental
Protection Agencys (EPA) ability to address significant new uses of chemicals. An alternative
bill, The Alan Reinstein and Trevor Schaefer
Toxic Chemical Protection Act, was introduced
by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Ed Markey
(D-MA), but did not get any traction.
17
Ed Sapir
Bethany Boggess marches

in March 2015 through
downtown Austin, TX.
18
Addressing Occupational Health and Safety at

the State and Local Levels
Providing rights to temp workers

A new California law took effect in January
2015 that holds companies responsible if a
staffing agency or subcontractor they use
engages in wage theft or fails to maintain
workers compensation insurance. The law covers workers in a full range of industries from
warehousing and farming to janitorial and
manufacturing but exempts some businesses
from the law, such as trucking and cable companies as well as those that dont hire more
than five temp workers at a time.
Department of Public Healths Hospital Ergonomics Task Force released recommendations

that provide a solid blueprint for moving
forward and recognize that advances in safe
patient handling will take a collective effort
of hospitals, hospital workers and government
agencies. Among the reports many findings
is this: More workers were injured in Massachusetts hospitals than in any other industry in
the state, with musculoskeletal injuries among
the most common. Among its many recommendations, the report encouraged hospitals
to implement and sustain comprehensive safe
patient handling programs and design injury
surveillance programs to collect critical data
on worker needs and safety gaps. The report,
Moving into the future: Promoting safe patient handling for worker and patient safety in
Massachusetts hospitals, is available at www.
mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/occupational-health/
ergo-sph-hospitals-2014.pdf.
In October 2014, Californias new regulation
addressing safe patient handling in hospitals
went into effect. The regulation was developed to implement a bill signed by Gov. Jerry
Brown in 2011. It includes significant requirements for employee involvement, including
the assessment of the need for equipment and
staff, development of safety training programs,
and review of the effectiveness of the plan in
the employees work area.
Protecting health care workers in

Massachusetts and California
Efforts to promote safe patient handling and
reduce injury risks among Massachusetts
health care workers moved forward in the past
year. In December 2014, the Massachusetts
19
This past year, worker safety advocates saw

victories and accomplishments at the state
and local levels. Maine received approval
from federal OSHA for a program to extend
health and safety protections to its state and
local government employees. A California law
took effect to better ensure temp workers
are covered by workers compensation insurance. The Washington Supreme Court ruled in
favor of farmworkers who argued that they
deserve to be on par with other workers with
respect to being paid during short rest breaks.
Massachusetts became the fourth state to
require employers to provide paid sick leave.
In addition, journalists with local news outlets focused readers attention on deficiencies
in state agency oversight of worker safety,
as well as on unique chemical exposures for
workers in particular industries. Reporters with
the Houston Chronicle covered the deaths of
four workers at a DuPont plant in Texas the
biggest single loss of worker lives in the last 12
months.
Nurses in Michigan participate in a national day of action

for safety (November 2014).
Addressing Occupational Health & Safety at the State and Local Levels
The June 2013 Yarnell Hill wildfire took the lives of 19 firefighters with the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Most of the victims families agreed to a settlement in June 2015 related
to a lawsuit they filed against the Arizona State Forestry Division. The families were less
interested in money than in seeing the state implement safety improvements for future
firefighters. The measures include better training
for incident commanders and firefighters, testing of more advanced tracking equipment, and
disseminating specific lessons about the effects of
dry, warmer seasons on the wild lands. Each family received a very modest $50,000 as part of the
agreement. As reported in The New York Times on
June 30, Roxanne Warneke was satisfied with the
agreement. She was pregnant when her husband,
Billy, was killed in the blaze. Finally, its over, she
told The New York Times: I wanted Billys death
to mean something, for some good to come out
Temporary memorial to 19 firefighters killed
in the 2013 Yarnell Hill wildfire.
of it, and now I can actually start to see results.
Ensuring paid sick leave

20
On November 4, 2014, nearly 60 percent of

Massachusetts voters approved a measure to
bring earned sick leave to the nearly 1 million
workers who were previously unable to accrue
time off to care for themselves or their families. The new law, which went into effect in
July 2015, allows all workers to earn one hour
of sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to
40 hours per year. Workers at companies with
11 or more employees will earn paid sick leave,
while those at companies with 10 or fewer
employees are eligible to earn unpaid sick
leave. The law also states that employers are
prohibited from interfering with or retaliating
against workers for exercising their new sick
leave rights. As of July 2015, Massachusetts
was one of four states along with California,
Connecticut, and Oregon to adopt a sick
leave law. Localities that recently passed paid
sick leave ordinances include Pittsburgh and
Philadelphia, PA; Tacoma, WA; and Montgomery County, MD.
On June 23, 2015, the Boston Globes Editorial
Board wrote of the new sick leave law: As a
policy, this is both sensible and humane. For
public health reasons, sick people should stay

KPHO, KTVK
Families of Arizona firefighters push for safety improvements
home. And no one should be forced to choose

between going to work while sick or caring
for a sick child and losing a days pay.
As of July 2015, more California workers could
begin accruing and taking sick leave under a
new state law that dramatically expands paid
sick leave benefits. The year before, California
had adopted the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy
Families Act of 2014, making it the second
state to mandate paid sick leave. In signing the
law, which provides paid sick days to millions
of workers who were previously unable to earn
such a benefit, Gov. Jerry Brown said: Whether youre a dishwasher in San Diego or a store
clerk in Oakland, this bill frees you of having to
choose between your familys health and your
job. Make no mistake, California is putting its
workers first.
The new law requires employers to provide
paid sick leave to employees who work 30 or
more days within a year from commencement
of employment, and employees will earn a
minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. The law applies to nearly
all employers in the state, with no exception
for small businesses or employers with less
than a particular number of workers. Excep-
David Isaacson/National COSH
tions to the law include employees covered by

qualifying collective bargaining agreements
and in-home supportive services providers.
Arizona OSHA and residential

construction
Arizona is one of 25 states that operates its
own occupational health and safety program.
These programs are approved and evaluated
by federal OSHA to ensure they are at least
as effective as the federal OSHA program.
In August 2014, OSHA proposed revoking the
final approval status of the Arizona State Plan
(ADOSH). The move came because the state
legislature adopted a fall protection standard
for residential construction that would apply
at heights above 15 feet. The federal OSHA
standard requires fall protection for workers
when they are at six feet or higher. In February
2015, OSHA issued a formal notice rejecting
ADOSHs residential fall protection (RFP) standard, meaning Arizona employers are required
to comply with federal OSHAs RFP regulations.
Convenience store workers Yasmin Colon and Misteke

Fomby speak about workplace violence at the National
OSH Summit (June 2015).
risks to specialty units. Cal/OSHA will be required to post annually information on violent
incidents occurring at hospitals. The Service
Employees International Union (Local 121RN)
and Nurse Alliance of California filed a petition
in February 2014 with the California Standards
Board for a standard to protect health care
workers from on-the-job violence. The California Nurses Association, which sponsored
the bill, subsequently also filed a petition with
the board. The Cal/OSHA regulations must be
issued by June 2016.
California
Workplace violence
Correcting workplace hazards
In late September 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown

signed legislation requiring hospitals to develop comprehensive safety plans to address
workplace violence. Among other things, the
plans must evaluate staffing levels and availability of security personnel, as well as assess
Safe Workers Save Lives Rally in Cerritos, CA.
Under a new California law (AB 1165), employers who are cited by Cal/OSHA for health and
safety violations will no longer be allowed to
avoid fixing the problems the agency identified while they file endless appeals. In addition, employers will be required to certify that
they have corrected a violation in order to get
a reduction in the penalty.
Heat-related illnesses
Improvements to Cal/OSHAs standard to protect workers from heat-related illnesses took
effect in March 2015. Employers are now required to provide shade once the temperature
reaches 80 degrees (down from 85 degrees
previously), engage in enhanced monitoring of
workers for heat-stress symptoms, and adhere
to new emergency procedures. Additional precautions are provided for farmworkers.
21
Chemical hazards & Department of Public

Health
$6 million penalty for Bumble Bee worker

death
The California Department of Public Health

(CDPH) will have new authority to obtain hazard information from chemical manufacturers
through a new law signed in September by the
governor. Under the states Hazard Evaluation
System and Information Service, CDPH can
require a company to provide the names and
addresses of businesses that have purchased
a particular compound when new scientific
or medical evidence indicates the substance
may pose serious and previously unrecognized
harm. The law will take effect in January 2016.
In August 2015, the Los Angeles district attorney (DA) reached a settlement with Bumble
Bee Foods for three counts of willfully violating worker safety laws related to the 2012
death of employee Jose Melena, 62, who was
cooked alive in an industrial oven. The company agreed to pay a $6 million penalty, half of
which will be used to replace outdated ovens.
His family, which includes six children, will
receive $1.5 million from the settlement. The
DAs office also reached a plea agreement with
the plants director of operations and the companys safety manager both were charged
with felonies for their roles in Melenas death.
California labor officials rule Uber worker an employee, not a contractor

In the past year, a lot of newspaper ink has been devoted to the so-called sharing economy
and the rise of the 1099 workforce (named after the tax form that reports payments to
workers classified as independent contractors). Probably the most cited example is Uber, a
ride-hailing app that connects passengers and drivers. While Uber and many of its drivers
say the business model provides a new level of freedom and flexibility, many other drivers
claim that while Uber classifies its workers as independent contractors, it controls them
like employees. By classifying workers as independent contractors, Uber is able to sidestep
many traditional wage and labor laws.
22
However, in June 2015, the California Labor Commission ruled that a San Francisco Uber
driver was an employee, not a contractor, and ordered the company to reimburse the
driver more than $4,000 in expenses. Uber appealed the decision, which applied to just the
one driver. In its ruling, the commission wrote: Defendants hold themselves out as nothing more than a neutral technology platform, designed simply to enable drivers and passengers to transact the business of transportation. The reality, however, is that Defendants
are involved in every aspect of the operation. The ruling wasnt the first against Ubers
worker classification, and it likely wont be the last.
Questions about worker classification are hounding other mobile app-based businesses as
well. For example, Handy, a technology platform that connects house cleaners and clients,
is also being sued by workers who say the company is unfairly denying them employee
status.
California Labor Commission ruling:
http://bit.ly/1IlK3aq
Avi Asher-Schapiro. Is Ubers Business Model Screwing Its Workers? In These Times,
Sept. 26, 2014.
http://bit.ly/1t2wjJU
damianpalus
San Francisco retail workers

The San Francisco Retail Workers Bill of Rights
officially went into effect in July 2015. Unanimously approved by the San Francisco Board
of Supervisors in December, the law is the first
of its kind and consists of two pieces of legislation: one that addresses hours and retention
protection and another that addresses fair
scheduling.
The laws five major provisions will require
corporate retailers to offer more hours to parttime employees before hiring additional parttime workers; to post schedules at least two
weeks in advance; to provide two to four hours
of pay at a workers regular rate if the worker is required to be on-call, but the employer
cancels the shift with less than a days notice;
to give equal treatment to part-time workers with respect to starting pay and access to
unpaid time off and promotion opportunities;
and to let workers keep their jobs for at least
a 90-day pay period after a company is bought
or sold. The new law applies to businesses with
20 or more locations globally and 20 or more
employees in San Francisco.
Maryland on responsible
contracting
A workgroup examining OHS requirements
for contractors involved in public works projects delivered their recommendations to the
Maryland General Assembly in December 2014.
The tripartite workgroups task stemmed from
a law signed by Gov. Martin OMalley and
resulted in a 40-page report, including a draft
questionnaire that could be used to assess a
contractors safety program. State lawmakers
have yet to act on the recommendations.
Massachusetts
Maine and public sector workers
Employees of state and local governments are
excluded from OSHA protections pursuant
to the OSH Act of 1970. In order to get such
protections, their state must operate a program that is approved by federal OSHA and
in turn, will receive partial funding from the
federal government to operate the program.
The state of Maine received approval in August
2015 from federal OSHA for its program to
cover its public-sector employees. The state
began developing its plan in 2012. Since that
time, it has been collaborating with federal
OSHA to ensure the program would be at least
as effective as the federal OSHA program for
private-sector employees. More than 81,000
state and local employees in Maine will now
enjoy OHS rights and protections. Nationwide,
8 million public-sector workers still are not
covered by OSHA.
Protections for public-sector workers

A new law extending OSHA protections to
more than 150,000 executive branch employees took effect in March 2015. Before the new
law, which was signed in 2014, state employees
werent covered by the same worker protections as their peers in the private sector, with
each state agency addressing workplace health
and safety on its own. The OSHA expansion,
however, centralizes the work of protecting
executive employee health and safety and
takes full advantage of OSHAs evidence-based
practices and protocols. At the time of OSHAs
inception in 1970, local officials could choose
whether to extend OSHA protections to state
employees, and Massachusetts, like most
states, had taken a pass.
For years before the laws signing, a coalition
of labor unions, employee organizations,
and safety advocates had worked with state
officials to study safety among state workers
23
Wyoming on fatality citations and

workers compensation
Washington and farmworkers
The failure of employers to pay their workers

compensation (WC) insurance premiums was
the subject of an investigation conducted by
reporter Dustin Bleizeffer of WyoFile.com. Bleizeffer used data from the states Department
of Workforce Services to identify more than
1,800 employers who owed $3.23 million for
WC coverage.
The Washington state Supreme Court ruled in

July 2015 in favor of farmworkers with respect
to rest breaks. The nine-judge panel agreed
with Ana Lopez Demetrio and Francisco Eugnio
Paz, who are farmworkers paid a piece rate,
that state law requires their employers to pay
them while they take short rest breaks. The
court was swayed by existing law under which
hourly employees are paid during rest breaks.
Advocate Mary Jane Collins teamed up with

Wyoming State Rep. Mary Throne (D-Cheyenne) and the Joint Labor, Health and Social
Services Committee to draft legislation that
would have required Wyoming OSHA to assess
a non-negotiable $50,000 fine against a firm
when it willfully and knowingly violated
safety laws and those violations caused a
work-related fatality. Collinss grandson, Brett
Samuel Collins, 20, was working for a construction company in August 2012 when he
suffered fatal injuries. The committee approved the measure in January 2015, but the
legislation was not considered by the full state
Senate chamber before it adjourned in March.
Scott Weaver/USW
24
and make preventive recommendations. That

advisory committee of advocates was codified
in the new law. It is now known as the Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Board and
includes a representative from the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and
Health (MassCOSH), four labor representatives,
a representative from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, and representatives from the
administration. However, in July, MassCOSH
said the new law is leading to some confusion
about the responsibility of municipalities and
other public-sector employers regarding OSHA
protections. The organization and its partners
are calling on state policymakers to ensure
the new OSHA expansion protects all public
employees.
Steelworkers get to the heart of the matter in their strike (February 2015).
ferenz
Local Reporters Draw Attention

to Workplace Health and
Safety Problems
Texas: Workers face higher risk
of death, lack benefits of state
oversight
Dallas Morning News reporter James Gordon
investigated worker injury rates in the Lone Star
state, where a worker is 12 percent more likely
to be killed on the job than a worker performing the same task in another state. To put the
Texas problem in context, the newspaper analyzed federal data between 2003 and 2012 to
determine how many worker deaths would be
expected in each industry based on the number
of workers and the national fatality rate.
Among the findings, Texas had 500 more
worker deaths than would be expected, while
California had about 1,200 fewer worker deaths
than expected. Texas had the highest rate of
excess deaths among the 10 largest states, with
most of the excess deaths in Texas happening
within specialty construction trades. The analysis
also found that states with weaker labor unions
tended to have high worker fatality rates.
Texas has no state occupational safety inspection agency and so such oversight is left to
federal OSHA.
James Gordon. Death on the Job. Dallas
Morning News, Aug. 16, 2014.
http://res.dallasnews.com/interactives/2014_workplace
New York City: High worker injury

rate at World Trade Center site
Construction at New York Citys World Trade
Center site came with serious injuries and dangerous work conditions, according to a New
York Daily News investigation. Reporter Greg
B. Smith found 34 incidents in which workers
were injured at World Trade Center sites and
which were not reported to OSHA (at the time,
there was no requirement to report them. See
new OSHA policy on p. 3). Between 2010 and

2012, worker injury rates at the sites exceeded
both New York and national rates for construction injuries.
Overall, the investigation found at least 81
incidents that involved hazardous work conditions since construction began in 2003, with
more than 40 such incidents involving workers
falling from dangerous heights. One injured
worker is Ethan Villalona, an apprentice
ironworker who was trapped under a 79-foot
steel beam that hadnt been properly secured.
Both of Villalonas legs were crushed, his pelvis
broken, and his lung partially collapsed, and
he suffered several herniated discs. Two years
after the incident, hes still undergoing rehabilitation and walks with a cane.
Smith reported that OSHA learned of most of
the workplace injuries from sources other than
contractors. No OSHA inspector was assigned
to exclusively monitor construction at the
World Trade Center sites.
Greg B. Smith. Dozens of injuries at World
Trade Center construction site went unreported. New York Daily News, Nov. 3, 2014.
http://nydn.us/1DSXrRt
Brothers, co-workers dead at

DuPont plant
Before dawn on November 15, 2015, Crystal
Wise was on the fourth floor of DuPonts pesticide processing unit in LaPorte, TX. She was
overcome by a massive release of methyl mer-
25
US Worker Fatality Database

It started as a public health students interest in following the chain of consumer goods
connected to the 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse that killed more than 1,000 workers in
Bangladesh. That student, Bethany Boggess, went on to create the Global Worker Watch
website to assemble data in real-time on work-related fatalities. In the fall of 2014, Boggess joined forces with Katelyn Parady (Massachusetts Department of Public Health), Gavin
West (Center for Construction Research and Training), Tammy Miser (United Support and
Memorial for Workplace Fatalities), and other activists to create the US Worker Fatality
Database. It is the largest open-access collection of US workplace fatality incidents.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) annual Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries is the
primary source of information on work-related fatalities, but it has limitations. There is a
two-year lag, for example, before the data is available to the public, and it does not offer
case-specific information. In contrast, the US Worker Fatality Database is updated at least
quarterly and includes as much information as available about the incident, including the
victims name, age, state, industry, and a description of the incident. All of the information
is gathered from news accounts, family members, OSHA, MSHA, and other public sources.
At its launch in April 2015, the database contained nearly 1,800 cases, most with the name
and age of the deceased worker. In July 2015, the developers and National COSH announced
an easy-to-use online form that the public can use to add fatality incidents to the database.
www.coshnetwork.org/fatality-database
26
captan and called for help. Co-workers came to

her aid, but the plant was not prepared for the
emergency. Ultimately, Wise, 53; Wade Baker,
60; Gilbert Tisnado, 48; and Robert Tisnado, 39,
succumbed to the toxic gas.
Following OSHAs investigation, the agency
issued citations, including one repeat violation,
and proposed a $99,000 penalty. A subsequent
inspection at the plant resulted in willful,
repeat, and serious violations, a $273,000
proposed penalty, and the severe violator
designation. DuPont is contesting both sets of
citations. Frank Cyphers, the president of the
International Chemical Workers Union Council
(ICWUC), criticized DuPonts legal challenge,
saying it uses precious resources that would
be better spent improving the safety of the
LaPorte plant or assisting the families of the
deceased.
The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) also launched
an investigation of the disaster. At a July 2015
CSB public meeting, members of the Tisnado
family spoke passionately about the loss of
brothers Gilbert and Robert Tisnado. They

urged the CSB take swift action on issuing recommendations to DuPont.

The Houston Chronicles Lise Olsen has kept
the incident and investigations in the publics
eye. Olsen and colleagues also used records
from the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality to reveal the plants history of unintentional releases of toxic air emissions.
Lise Olsen. Up in the Tower, Texas Monthly,
September 2015.
www.texasmonthly.com/articles/up-in-the-tower/
Despite being a known hazard,

diacetyl continues to put workers at
risk
Workers at a coffee roasting plant in Tyler,
TX, had no idea they were risking their health
as they worked with vats of the flavoring
chemical known as diacetyl, which can cause
a lung-destroying condition if inhaled. If fact,
it took a year to pinpoint diacetyl as the cause
of workers chronic and worsening respira-
The dangers of diacetyl exposure are well

known, but OSHA has yet to issue exposure
standards. The lack of action has dire consequences for workers such as Emanuel Diaz de
Leon, who worked in Tyler, TX, at Distant Lands
Coffee, a company headquartered in Washington state. In just 18 months of working at
the coffee facility, de Leons lungs were irreparably damaged; doctors predict the damage
will shorten his life. Four other workers at the
coffee plant were identified with the same
life-threatening health problems as de Leon.
At one point in 2009, OSHA signaled it would
develop a rule on workplace exposure to diacetyl, but backed away from the proposal in the
face of industry opposition, Rutledge reported.
The article also investigated the use of diacetyl
in electronic cigarettes, citing a 2014 study that
found as many as 70 percent of sweet-flavored
e-cigarettes contain the chemical flavoring.
Raquel Rutledge. Gasping for Action. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Feb. 14, 2015.
http://bit.ly/17BFgXN
Dairy workers face dangerous

conditions, win right to workers
compensation
The dairy industry often portrays itself as idyllic
family farms raising happy, healthy animals.
But New Mexico dairy farm workers know
better. Reporter Joseph Sorrentino writes that
three-quarters of the states dairy workers are
Mexican, and most of the milk comes from
cows living in concentrated animal feeding
operations (more commonly known as CAFOs).
Dairy workers rarely receive proper training,
which puts the workers as well as the animals
at risk of injury. In 2012, the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty interviewed about 60
dairy workers; almost 80 percent said they had
never received training, and more than half

had been injured on the job.
Sorrentino interviewed a number of workers, including Matas Soto, who worked as a
milker. A bull attacked Soto, lifting him into
the air and dropping him to the ground, where
he slammed his head on the concrete floor.
His skull was fractured, but he said he wasnt
taken to an emergency department for three
hours. The dairy was not required under state
law to have workers compensation (WC)
insurance, and Soto went into debt trying to
pay for the helicopter ride that airlifted him to
a hospital with the capacity to treat his injuries. Other workers reported that they never
take time off work when theyre sick or injured
for fear of losing their jobs. One worker told
Sorrentino: If I do not work a day, I do not
earn any money. The patron [boss] makes the
rules. We know nothing of the law, nothing
of the government. If I or another worker has
something to door I am sick, I have to find
the replacement and pay them. Other workers report not being paid overtime, and shoddy
record-keeping by employers can make it difficult to calculate workers true hourly pay.
27
In June, however, a New Mexico Court of

Appeals ruled that excluding field and ranch
workers from WC was unconstitutional. The
court wrote: Our review of the history of
workers compensation statutes back to 1929
has not revealed an articulable purpose for
the exclusion and stated that the exclusion
Carly Fox/ Workers Center of Central NY
tory problems, according to reporter Raquel

Rutledge of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Diacetyl, which adds a buttery flavor to products, is the same chemical linked to occupational illnesses and deaths in popcorn factory
workers.
Farmworker Edulfo Vasquez leads discussion with worker

leaders at a committee meeting in central New York.
Ellery/Wikimedia Commons
DOE sign identifying the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state.
28
was without purpose or reason and leads to

absurd results.
Joseph Sorrentino, The One Thing Worse
Than Big Dairys Abuse of Cows? Its Abuse of
Workers. In These Times, Dec. 1, 2014.
http://bit.ly/1STT45r
N.M. Field and Dairy Laborers Win Right To

Workers CompCourt Calls Exemption Absurd. In These Times, July 20, 2015.
http://bit.ly/1Ov5met
Washington: Nuclear waste workers

report health issues, unsafe job
conditions
Between March 2014 and February 2015, dozens of workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state sought medical attention for serious health symptoms they believe
are connected to on-the-job exposures to toxic
waste vapors, reported Elizabeth Grossman in
In These Times. Later that same year, a report
from Savannah River National Laboratory a
lab of the US Department of Energy (DOE)

cited regular toxic emissions from waste tanks,

inadequate worker health and safety protocols, and evidence that strongly suggests a
connection between chemical vapor exposures
and worker health effects.
Grossman reported that union and other worker advocates, as well as Washingtons attorney
general, filed notices in November 2014 of
their intent to sue the DOE well as the Washington River Protection Services for violating
work protection standards. A representative
from United Steelworkers, which represents
Hanford workers, told Grossman: There is not
adequate industrial hygiene on site to determine when respiratory protection is needed.
Its like whack-a-mole. Theyve been chasing
this stuff around for 20, 30 years, throwing
SCBAs (self-contained breathing apparatus) on
people after the fact, when the exposures took
place yesterday.
Elizabeth Grossman. Union, Environmental
Group Say Dozens of Nuclear Workers Suffering from Toxic Materials Exposure. In These
Times, Feb. 20, 2015.
http://bit.ly/1zxoQGG
North Carolina: Worker deaths go

unnoticed, uncounted
Oregon: Mill workers warned of

safety hazards before roof collapse
In 2013, Bill Goodson died on the job after a

log slipped from a machine and struck him in
the head. But because Goodsons employment
arrangement was an informal one, his death
wasnt counted in the states official tally of
occupational fatalities. Goodsons death is one
example of how worker deaths go undocumented in North Carolina and why the states
worker fatality count may be artificially low,
according to reporter Mandy Locke. In 2014,
North Carolina Labor Commissioner Cherie
Berry announced that workplace deaths had
decreased significantly in the state, to 23 in
2013. However, a News & Observer investigation found that the state labor agency left 80
worker deaths out of that count.
In November 2014, a roof section larger than a

football field collapsed at Woodgrain Millwork
in Prineville, OR. Luckily, no one was harmed.
However, mill workers, who spoke of a variety
of workplace hazards, say they had alerted
management to the leaky roof long before the
collapse, reported Amanda Peacher for Oregon Public Broadcasting. After an anonymous
complaint, Oregon OSHA investigated the roof
collapse, but did not find the roof had any
pre-existing signs that it would cave in.
A number of factors contribute to the inaccurate tally. One is a switch within the Department of Labor from reporting all work-related
deaths to only reporting deaths in which inspectors can levy penalties. An agency spokesperson defended the practice, saying the numbers represent fatalities the safety agency can
act on. However, the news investigation found
that the agency isnt readily transparent about
the fact that the worker fatality numbers are
only a fraction of the real toll. The official state
tally now leaves out self-employed workers,
laborers at small farms, owners of unincorporated companies, and those who die in open
waters surrounding the state, as well as workers who die due to a work-related injury that
initially occurred months or years prior.
James Andrews, president of the states AFLCIO chapter, told Locke: I thought we had
something to celebrate. This, though, seems to
paint a false picture of where we are.
Mandy Locke. Many NC workers deaths go
uncounted. The News & Observer, April 11,
2015.
http://bit.ly/1PzgaKB
A top Woodgrain Millwork official told Oregon Public Broadcasting that he had no reason
to believe the building was unsafe. However,
workers interviewed for the news story reported that whenever it rained or snowed, the roof
throughout the mill facility would leak, dripping on workers and equipment. In addition,
the news outlet obtained company documents
from 2010 and 2011 that mentioned roof leaks
as a safety concern, and workers said they regularly filed complaints about the roof. Workers
recalled using buckets to catch leaking water
as they worked buckets that would fill up
every few hours. They also reported working
in cold temperatures with little heat. After
the roof collapse, Woodgrain shut down most
of the Prineville facility, laying off about 200
workers.
Oregon OSHA administrator Michael Wood acknowledged that the post-collapse inspection
could have been more thorough. Former mill
employee Peggy Murphy said of the company:
Theyre going to send you in there knowing
that that roof was bad? Thats crazy to me. To
me, thats like, this business, that product, this
money is bigger than you. Bigger than your
life, than your kids and your family.
Amanda Peacher. Workers Alerted Company
To Problems With Prineville Mill Roof Before
Collapse. Oregon Public Broadcasting, April
13, 2015.
http://bit.ly/1OThjKO
29
Eugene Sergeev
30
New Research on Worker Health and Safety
esearchers in academia as well as those working in policy organizations published a

wide range of papers about the impact of working conditions on health. Studies in the
peer-reviewed literature provide insight into the diversity and complexity of workplace hazards and their relationship to injuries and illnesses. Especially prominent in the literature over the
last year were papers addressing work-related respiratory diseases and musculoskeletal disorders,
as well as the advantage of using multiple datasets to assess the incidence, prevalence, and cost
of work-related harm. We profile a few of them below and provide a longer list in the appendix
of our top picks for the past year.
Peer-Reviewed Literature
on Work-related Respiratory
Diseases
Prevalence of work-related asthma,
worker-physician communication
The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
(BRFSS) and the Adult Asthma Call-back Survey
(ACBS) have been enhanced in recent years to
address declining response rates, including the
addition of cell phone-only households. In the
22 states represented in the 2012 ACBS survey,
an estimated 1.9 million adults (15.7 percent)
have work-related asthma. By state, the proportion of work-related asthma ranged from 9
percent in Hawaii to more than 20 percent in
Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Mazurek JM, White GE. Work-related asthma22 states, 2012. MMWR Morb Mortal
Wkly Rep. 2015 Apr 10;64(13):343-6.
www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/
mm6413a2.htm
Using the same data, the researchers assessed

the proportion of ever-employed adults with
current asthma who talked with a health care
provider about the possible work-relatedness
of their asthma. Less than 15 percent of individuals had such conversations, and the communications were associated with factors such
as age, ethnicity, employment, insurance, and
urgent treatment for worsening asthma.
Mazurek JM, White GE, et al. Patient-physician
communication about work-related asthma:
what we do and do not know. Ann Allergy

Asthma Immunol. 2015 Feb;114(2):97-102.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25492097
Washington state researchers used the 20062009 BRFSS and ACBS to estimate the prevalence of asthma. Fifty-five percent of the
ACBS respondents believed exposures at work
caused or worsened their asthma. Yet less
than 11 percent reported speaking to a health
care provider about their asthma being work
related.
Anderson NJ, Fan ZJ, et al. Distribution of asthma by occupation: Washington State behavioral risk factor surveillance system data, 20062009. J Asthma. 2014 Dec;51(10):1035-42.
Construction workers and lung

disease
Researchers used data from the Building Trades
National Medical Screening Program to estimate the lifetime risk of occupational lung
disease for construction workers. The estimates
were based on 14,400 construction-worker
participants who received a medical exam
between 1997 and 2010. Over a 45-year
working life, the estimates indicate 16 percent
of construction workers will develop chronic
obstructive pulmonary disorder, 11 percent
parenchymal radiological abnormality, and
74 percent hearing loss. The lifetime risk for a
construction worker of developing a work-related disease is two to six times greater than
the risk for non-construction workers.
New Research on Worker Health & Safety
31
Tracy Fox
Ringen K, Dement J, et al. Risks of a lifetime in

construction. Part II: Chronic occupational diseases. Am J Ind Med. 2014 Nov;57(11):1235-45.
Beginning in 1986, more than 20,000 sheet

metal workers in the US and Canada participated in a union- and industry-supported health
screening program. Causes of death were
analyzed for workers with more than 20 years
in the trade. Excess mortality was seen for mesothelioma and asbestosis, despite the workers
having largely indirect exposure to asbestos.
The researchers also found increased mortality
trends for lung cancer, most notably with low
ILO x-ray profusion scores.
Welch L, Dement J, West G. Mortality among
sheet metal workers participating in a respiratory screening program. Am J Ind Med. 2015
Apr;58(4):378-91.
The listing will be updated semi-annually and

is available online.
Rosenman KD, Beckett WS. Web based listing of agents associated with new onset
work-related asthma. Respir Med. 2015
May;109(5):625-31.
Work-related dust diseases

32
Exposures and work-related asthma

Using data from the 2010 National Health
Interview Survey, researchers estimated the
proportion of employed adults with asthma
who had frequent workplace exposures to potential asthma triggers. More than 28 percent
were frequently exposed to vapors, gas, dust,
or fumes; nearly 20 percent frequently worked
outdoors; and more than 17 percent were
exposed to secondhand smoke.
White GE, Mazurek JM, Storey E. Employed
adults with asthma who have frequent workplace exposures. J Asthma. 2015 Feb;52(1):4651.
Occupational medicine specialists affiliated

with the Association of Occupational and
Environmental Clinics identified 327 agents
associated with work-related asthma through
a review of the literature. The researchers categorized 53 percent of the substances as sensitizers and 11 percent as known asthma-causing
agents, with 35 percent yet to be classified.
Researchers examined the mortality of more

than 31,000 miners who worked in any one of
seven Minnesota taconite mines between 1960
and 2010. When compared to causes of death
for all residents in the state, mortality from
mesothelioma was 2.7 times higher for the
miners, and lung cancer was 16 percent higher.
Allen EM, Alexander BH, et al. Mortality experience among Minnesota taconite mining
industry workers. Occup Environ Med. 2014
Nov;71(11):744-9.
During an inspection in 2010 of a coal slag

processing plant, an OSHA inspector learned
that four former workers had applied for
workers compensation for black lung disease.
The inspector collected air monitoring samples
for total dust and respirable silica, and the
analysis found some exceeded OSHAs permissible exposure limit and the threshold limit
value set for silica by the American Conference
of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. The
authors report the findings are the first known
reported cases of lung disease among workers
exposed to coal slag dust.
Fagan KM, Cropsey EB, Armstrong JL. Case cluster of pneumoconiosis at a coal slag processing
facility. Am J Ind Med. 2015 May;58(5):568-76.
Peer-Reviewed Literature using

Multi-Source Surveillance
Systems
Work-related skull fractures
Researchers in Michigan used data from three
sources hospitals, workers compensation,
and death certificates to identify cases of
work-related skull fractures. In 2012, they identified 316 skull and facial fractures in Michigan,
compared to 170 for the state estimated by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Survey of
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII). When
the researchers added facial fractures to skull
fractures in the analysis, the percentage of
injured workers who were women increased
from 15 to 31 percent, and the most common
industry involved shifted from construction to
health care and social assistance. Surveillance
using the state sources prompted inspections
by Michigan OSHA.
Kica J, Rosenman KD. Surveillance for work-related skull fractures in Michigan. J Safety Res.
2014 Dec;51:49-56.
Work-related amputations, carpal

tunnel syndrome
Researchers in California used data from three
sources workers compensation, health care
facilities, and reports from physicians to
identify work-related amputations and carpal
tunnel syndrome (CTS) in 2007 and 2008. They
identified nearly 7,000 amputations and more
than 39,000 CTS cases. BLS SOII for the same
period estimated only 1,390 amputations and

3,720 CTS cases among California workers.
Joe L, Roisman R, et al. Using multiple data sets
for public health tracking of work-related injuries and illnesses in California. Am J Ind Med.
2014 Oct;57(10):1110-9.
Researchers in Michigan used data from hospitals, emergency departments, and workers
compensation to identify work-related amputations that occurred from 2006 through 2012.
BLSs SOII estimated 1,170 cases for the period,
while the multi-source surveillance system
identified 4,140 more than three times the
number of cases. Michigan OSHA conducted
173 inspections as a result of referrals from the
researchers.
Largo TW, Rosenman KD. Surveillance of
work-related amputations in Michigan using
multiple data sources: results for 2006-2012.
Occup Environ Med. 2015 Mar;72(3):171-6.
The authors matched workers compensation

data from Massachusetts for 2007 and 2008 to
injury cases in BLSs SOII sample for the state to
estimate the number of work-related amputations. They found amputation cases in one
data set (e.g., workers compensation) appeared as other injuries (i.e., not amputations)
in the other data set (SOII), and vice versa. The
total number of amputations varied markedly
depending on how the cases were classified,
leading to wide variation in estimates of the
number of work-related amputations.
Tak S, Grattan K, et al. Impact of differential
injury reporting on the estimation of the total
number of work-related amputations. Am J Ind
Med. 2014 Oct;57(10):1144-8.
33
Peer-reviewed literature on
work-related musculoskeletal
disorders (MSDs)
Cost-shifting for work-related MSDs
34
The authors set out to examine whether declines in workers compensation (WC) utilization rates, based on visits to a provider, reflect
injury prevention or cost shifting to other payment systems. They used 20 years of data from
a cohort of union carpenters to compare claims
for disorders of the upper extremities (UE) and
knees submitted to WC and to a union-provided health insurance fund. WC claims for UE
and knee injuries declined by 250 percent and
300 percent, respectively, while health insurance claims for these disorders increased by
300 percent or more. The fact that WC usage
for these injuries declined while insurance usage for these same injuries increased suggests
that some injured carpenters may be relying
on their health insurance to treat injuries for
which they might have previously sought WC
coverage in effect, shifting costs from WC
insurance to traditional health insurance.
Lipscomb HJ, Schoenfisch AL, et al. Contrasting
patterns of care for musculoskeletal disorders
and injuries of the upper extremity and knee
through workers compensation and private
health care insurance among union carpenters
in Washington State, 1989 to 2008. Am J Ind
Med. 2015 Sep;58(9):955-63.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25939759
The authors used data from the Carpenters

Health and Welfare Trust Fund (CHWTF) to examine health insurance claims for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among 1,475 union floor
layers (FL) in Missouri. For the period 2006
through 2010, 51 percent of the FL filed claims
for MSD injuries, compared to 39 percent in
the general worker population. Claim rate
ratios for knee and neck injuries were nearly
double for FL when compared to the general
worker population. Twenty-two percent of FL
filed claims for MSD injuries in more than one
body region, compared to 10 percent in the
general worker population. The results suggest a shift to personal health insurance for
work-related MSDs.
Dale AM, Ryan D, et al. Comparison of musculoskeletal disorder health claims between
construction floor layers and a general working population. Occup Environ Med. 2015
Jan;72(1):15-20.
Risk factors for carpal tunnel

syndrome
The authors examined the relationship between incidence of dominant-hand carpal
tunnel syndrome (CTS) and workplace biomechanical factors among nearly 2,500 US workers employed in manufacturing, service, and
agricultural jobs. Measures of force, repetition,
duty cycle, and posture were assembled for
each individual, and new cases of carpal tunnel
syndrome were based on electrophysiological tests. The individuals were followed for
up to more than six years. Higher estimated
peak hand force, forceful repetition rate, and
percent time spent in forceful hand exertions
were associated with increased risk of new
cases of CTS. No associations were observed
between total hand repetition rate, percent
duration of all hand exertions, or wrist posture
and new cases of CTS.
Harris-Adamson C, Eisen EA, et al. Biomechanical risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome: a
pooled study of 2474 workers. Occup Environ
Med. 2015 Jan;72(1):33-41.
Collaborating with employees and managers

of 12 manufacturing and service sector companies in Washington state, the authors examined whether the Moore-Garg Strain Index
(SI) predicts the incidence of work-related
epicondylitis (EPI), a type of tendon inflammation. About 600 workers were followed for up
to three-and-a-half years. Tasks performed by
each worker were assigned SI scores with SI
3 representing almost surely safe and an SI
> 7 almost surely hazardous. Eleven percent
of the workers developed lateral and/or medial

EPI on the dominant side. The authors reported a significant positive relationship between
higher scores of SI and lateral EPI (LEPI).
Fan ZJ, Bao S, et al. Predicting work-related
incidence of lateral and medial epicondylitis
using the strain index. Am J Ind Med. 2014
Dec;57(12):1319-30.
occurred among workers who had been on the

job for three or fewer days.
Arbury S, Jacklitsch B, et al. Heat illness and
death among workers - United States, 20122013. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2014
Aug 8;63(31):661-5.
mm6331a1.htm
The authors examine the history, science,

and politics of OSHAs ergonomics standard
through interviews with key players from labor, academia, and government. The Q&A format allows readers to experience the experts
perspectives and recollections in their own
words. The interviewees were: Charles Jeffress,
Frank Mirer, Jackie Nowell, Laura Punnett, Randy Rabinowitz, Peg Seminario, Barbara Silverstein, and Michael Silverstein.
Delp L, Mojtahedi Z, et al. A legacy of struggle: the OSHA ergonomics standard and
beyond, Part I & II. New Solut. November 2014
24(3):365-408.
NIOSH researchers used data from BLSs Census

of Fatal Occupational Injuries for the period
2003 to 2013 to identify 1,189 work-related
fatalities in the oil and gas extraction industry.
Forty percent of the fatalities involved transportation hazards, and 26 percent were related
to contact with objects or equipment. More
than 50 percent of the fatality victims were
employed by well-servicing companies.
Mason KL, Retzer KD, et al. Occupational
fatalities during the oil and gas boom - United
States, 2003-2013. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly
Rep. 2015 May 29;64(20):551-4.
35
mm6420a4.htm
Wavebreak Media Ltd (Follow)
Reflections on OSHAs ergonomics

standard
Oil & gas workers
Morbidity & Mortality Weekly

Report
The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
(MMWR) featured several investigations of
work-related fatalities, injuries, and illnesses.
The reports include the following:
Heat-related Illnesses
Federal OSHA staff reported 20 heat-related
illnesses or deaths during 2012-2013 for which
the agency used its general duty clause
to cite the employer. Thirteen of the cases
involved a fatality, and nine of the deaths
Farmworkers and pesticide illnesses
States, 2010. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep.

2015 Mar 6;64(8):217-21.
Researchers with the Washington State Health

Department and NIOSH investigated cases of
pesticide poisoning among farmworkers at a
cherry orchard. The workers were exposed in
April 2014 to a mix of pesticides that drifted to
their work area from a nearby pear orchard.
Sixteen of the workers sought medical treatment for neurologic, gastrointestinal, ocular,
and respiratory symptoms.
mm6408a4.htm?s_cid=mmmm6408a4_w
Other papers of special interest
Calvert GM, Rodriguez L, Prado JB. Worker

illness related to newly marketed pesticides
Douglas County, Washington, 2014. MMWR
Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015 Jan 23;64(2):42-4.
Claudia Schnepf
mm6402a2.htm
36
Using data from the Illinois Trauma Registry

(2000-2009), the authors set out to determine
whether injured workers cluster by geographic
area. They mapped work-related injuries by
residential ZIP code and found 79 percent of
injuries occurred among workers living in 20
percent of the ZIP codes. In a companion analysis, the authors found the residences of injured
workers were clustered in 10 locations with
high concentrations of immigrant residents.
Injury rates correlated inversely with urban
poverty. The authors suggested that safety
training at the community level could fill gaps
in workplace safety training.
Forst L, Friedman L, et al. Spatial Clustering of
Occupational Injuries in Communities. Am J
Public Health. 2015 Jul;105 Suppl 3:S526-33.
Long-haul truckers and seat belt use

NIOSH researchers examined seat belt use
among long-haul truck drivers using survey
data from a 2010 CDC-funded survey of such
workers. An estimated 86 percent of drivers reported often using a seat belt. Six percent of
respondents reported never using a seat belt
a response associated with driving 10 mph
over the speed limit, working for a company
with no written safety program, receiving two
or more tickets in the preceding 12 months for
moving violations, and being female.
Chen GX, Collins JW, et al. Vital signs: seat belt
use among long-haul truck driversUnited
Researchers interviewed 110 individuals in

Washington state who were responsible for
maintaining their employers OSHA injury and
illness log to ascertain their understanding of
the recordkeeping requirements. They also
compared data on the employers injury logs
with records for workers compensation claims
to determine the accuracy of their logs. The
authors report that 90 percent failed to comply
with one or more of the recordkeeping requirements because of a misunderstanding or
a disregard for the regulation.
Wuellner SE, Bonauto DK. Exploring the relationship between employer recordkeeping and
underreporting in the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. Am J Ind Med.
2014 Oct;57(10):1133-43.
Using data from the California Cancer Registry, the authors evaluated the risk of cancer
among firefighters. Based on data from 1988
through 2007 and involving 3,996 firefighters
Sarah Jacobs/ UCLA-LOSH
with cancer, the firefighters had an elevated

risk for developing melanoma, multiple myeloma, acute myeloid leukemia, and cancers
of the esophagus, prostate, brain, and kidney.
The authors suggested the excess risk may be
associated with changes in building materials.
Tsai RJ, Luckhaupt SE, et al. Risk of cancer
among firefighters in California, 1988-2007.
Am J Ind Med. 2015 Jul;58(7):715-29.
Reports from Non-Profit

Organizations
Several non-profit organizations issued reports
this year addressing the challenges faced by
US workers and the institutions charged with
protecting workers rights. Special focus was
given to day laborers, recycling workers, black
workers, and those employed by temporary
staffing agencies.
Temped Out: How the domestic outsourcing
of blue-collar jobs harms Americas workers.
National Employment Law Project (NELP) and
National Staffing Workers Alliance (NSWA),
August 2014.
http://bit.ly/1LRrrSQ
NELP and NSWA released an in-depth report

examining wage and safety conditions for the
2.8 million workers in the employment services
industry. The authors describe the concentration of staffing agencies in California, Illinois,
and New Jersey, and the industries in which
temp labor is used in each state. They offer
evidence showing temp workers face a higher risk of work-related injury and death than
workers in traditional employment. A highlight
of the report is profiles of four temp workers,
including Marcela Gallegos, who was injured
on the job and joined with a co-worker to
file an OSHA complaint. The authors offer six
recommendations for legislative changes and
policy improvements.
Laura Campbell, Carli Richie-Zavaleta, Regem Corpuz,

Karen Calderon, and Jeff Vredenburg share their
experience as OHIP interns at the American Public
Health Associations annual meeting. The Occupational
Health Internship Program (OHIP) matches students with
workers to conduct OHS-related research.
National Trends and Developments in Workers

Compensation. National Economic & Social
Rights Initiative (NESRI), October 2014.
http://bit.ly/1Klu6W3
NESRI published an issue brief that examines

seven leading roll-backs in workers compensation benefits instituted over the last 25 years.
These state-based reforms hinder the ability
of injured workers to receive appropriate medical care and recover lost wages. The roll-backs
include exclusions from coverage for pre-existing conditions that are aggravated by on-thejob exposures; bans on benefits for repetitive
motion injuries, hearing loss, and back conditions; and prohibitions on suing insurers for
bad faith handling of workers comp claims.
Gaming the rules: How big business hijacks
the small business review process to weaken
public protections. Center for Effective Government, November 2014.
www.foreffectivegov.org/files/regs/gaming-therules-small.pdf
Since 1996, OSHA has been required to convene groups of small business representatives
(SBREFA panels) to review draft proposed
regulations prior to the standard period for
public notice and comment. The authors use
agency documents obtained through Freedom
of Information Act requests to examine the
influence of trade associations in selecting the
small business representatives, including those
who do not own small businesses but instead
37
are lawyers and consultants to the trade

groups. Among the authors criticism is OSHAs
apparent practice of allowing the panels to
recommend proposal changes that go beyond
small business impacts. The authors offer eight
recommendations to improve agency practices.
Bending Toward Justice: How Latino immigrants became community and safety leaders.
New Labor & Rutgers Occupational Training
and Education Consortium, Fall 2014.
http://bit.ly/1f2D6Es
http://bit.ly/1x9Htnn
The authors describe 13 regulations on health

and safety protections for workers, consumers,
and the environment that the Obama administration should complete before the president
leaves office. Among them are two OHS rules:
workers exposure to respirable silica exposure, and hazards faced by children working
on farms. Each topic is organized to explain:
whats at stake? whats the hold-up? what
should the rules do? and what happens next?
Occupational Safety and Health in the Law
Atlas. December 2014.
http://lawatlas.org/topics
The Law Atlas added a portal on occupational

health and safety (OHS) standards to its collection. Public Citizen researched and assembled the data found in the new OHS portal. It
contains OHS standards adopted in state-based
OSHA plans that are not identical to federal
OSHA standards on the same topic. The OHS
information is the latest addition to the Law
Atlas, which includes portals on dozens of
state laws, including air quality, anti-bullying,
and minimum wage. The Law Atlas is part of
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundations Public
Health Law Research program.
New Labor
38
This report, which is also available in Spanish,

describes a collaboration between New Labor,
a worker center based in New Brunswick, NJ,
and OHS researchers with Rutgers University.
What started in 2004 as peer-to-peer, handson participatory safety training evolved into
a movement of organized day laborers who
serve their community as safety liaisons.
Their expertise was put to the test in 2012 following Superstorm Sandy. In the months after
the storm, the workers provided demonstrations, safety training, and protective equipment to workers involved in demolition, cleanup, and residential construction. A decade of
leadership development, safety expertise, and
mentoring has prepared New Labor members to organize workers in warehousing and
manufacturing jobs through health and safety
activism.
Barack Obamas Path to Progress in 2015-2016:

Thirteen essential regulatory actions. Center
for Progressive Reform, November 2014.
Jos Avila, his son Martin, and Gabriela Campos lead a Workers Memorial Day march in New Brunswick, NJ.
www.njwec.org/PDF/Reports/FINAL_Dangerinthe
Dark_Report.pdf
Narongsak Nagadhana
Ninety of the most potentially hazardous

chemical facilities in New Jersey are located in
59 municipalities and 19 counties. The authors
asked each of the jurisdictions to provide
a copy of their emergency response plans.
Sixty-eight percent denied the request, as did
seven of 11 counties in which railroad cars
transport flammable crude oil. The report lists
26 incidents in 2014 illustrating the need for
public access to emergency response plans.
disaster, and salmonella-contaminated peanut butter sold by the

Peanut Corporation of
America, among others, to make her case.
She examines the impotence of our regulatory agencies, including their slaps on the
wrist to billion-dollar
entities. Steinzor
argues the time has
come for local, state,
and federal prosecutors to charge company
executives under criminal statutes for creating
conditions that lead to worker fatalities and
serious injuries. She rebuts arguments that the
criminal law does not cover the managerial
behavior that makes such catastrophes foreseeable, inevitable, and, ultimately, preventable.
Worker safety advocates will gain insight into
the minds and motivations of prosecutors and
advice on getting their attention.
Cambridge University Press
Danger in the Dark: How Gov. Christie helps

oil, chemical, and railroad companies cover up
potential catastrophes. New Jersey Work Environment Council, December 2014.
39
The Small Business Charade: The chemical

industrys stealth campaign against public
health. Center for Progressive Reform, February 2015.
www.progressivereform.org/articles/Small_Biz_
Charade_Silica_1501.pdf
Why Not Jail?: Industrial Catastrophes, Corporate Malfeasance, and Government Inaction.
Rena Steinzor, December 2014.
http://amzn.to/1TaxW7z
The Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion

is the kick-off point for a book filled with
hard-hitting arguments for holding corporate
officers responsible for the deaths and harm
their actions cause to workers, the public, and
the environment. Steinzor drills into the BP
Deepwater Horizon blowout, the BP Texas City
The authors use OSHAs efforts to regulate

respirable silica dust as a prime example
of how the American Chemistry Council
(ACC) and the Small Business Adminstration
(SBA) team up to obstruct the rulemaking
process. They provide a chronology of how
the ACC, specifically its Crystalline Silica
Panel, manipulated SBA and influenced
who represented small businesses point of
view and what they said about OSHAs draft
proposed rule. Many of the ACCs criticisms
of OSHAs proposal were presented in SBAs
own comments about it. The authors offer
recommendations to fix the problem.
http://bit.ly/1FqA9pf
This in-depth report is an outgrowth of a 2013

gathering hosted by the Discount Foundation
and Neighborhood Funders Group to examine
the jobs crisis for blacks in the US and the need
for black organizing. Essays by the five authors
discuss structural barriers and discrimination
as impediments to employment equity and
the dominance of low-wage work for blacks.
Two essays describe partnerships between
organized labor and black workers to advance
social change.
Nursing: A Profession in Peril. Public Citizen,
June-July 2015.
http://bit.ly/1FP8X0t
40
This five-part series on health care workers

injured on the job starts off with a report on
the Health Care Industrys Castoffs, which
chronicles the stories of six nurses who were
forced out of their jobs after experiencing
work-related injuries. The second report, Taking the Burden Off Their Backs, is an overview
of technologies and polices that could reduce
nursing injuries, though experts cited in the
report estimated that fewer than one-fourth
of hospitals have adopted comprehensive safe
patient handling programs. However, when
such comprehensive programs are enacted,
they work. An example offered in the second
report is a New York State Department of
Health Veterans Home in Batavia, NY, where,
on average, nine full-time employees would be
absent each day due to injuries related to patient handling. After the facility implemented
a program that minimized manual lifting, the
daily average of workers who were absent due
to injury decreased to less than one.
The third report, Uplifting an Industry?
examined state-based effort to protect health
care workers from musculoskeletal injuries,
noting that OSHA has little authority in this
arena. The report found that 11 states have
enacted laws to address the issue; of the eight
states for which good data are available on
the laws impacts, five reported significant
declines in musculoskeletal injuries that require

time off of work. Pay It Forward, the fourth

report in the series, found that when health
care facilities do invest in safety programs, the
costs of implementation are quickly recouped
through a reduction in injuries. For example, at
Intermountain Healthcare, which runs 22 hospitals and nearly 200 clinics in Utah and Idaho,
a comprehensive safe patient handling program that included new policies, training, and
assistive devices reduced employee injury rates
by 42 percent within one year. Intermountain Healthcare estimated that the reduction
in such injuries saves $500,000 annually. The
last report in the series, Little Support from
Above, examined health care industry opposition to regulations that would protect workers
from injury, finding that this review did not
find any meaningful systemic initiatives or proposals by health care industry representatives
to address the problem.
Patibutkan Singsoot
Black Workers Matter. Sean Thomas-Breitfeld,

Linda Burnham, et al., May 2015.
Sustainable and Safe Recycling: Protecting

Workers Who Protect the Planet. Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, the Partnership for Working Families, and the National
Council for Occupational Safety and Health,
June 2015.
http://bit.ly/1g22qe3
Over the next 10 years, an estimated 1.5

million jobs will be created in the recycling
industry. Recovering materials for re-use will
conserve resources, but workers in the industry are exposed to many serious hazards. The
authors identified 17 fatal injuries among
recycling workers for the period 2011 to 2013.
Walmart at the Crossroads: The environmental and labor impact of its food supply chain.
Food Chain Workers Alliance, June 2014.
http://bit.ly/1RMgo16
Walmarts dominance in the retail food industry gives the firm significant power to require
suppliers and distibutors to conform to a high

code of ethics on labor and environmental
practices. The authors analyzed products sold
in 17 Walmart locations across to US to identify key suppliers of typical produce, animal
products, and packaged foods. The labor and
environmental records of more than 20 firms
including Perdue Farms, Land OLakes, Del
Monte, and Giorgio Foods are profiled. The
authors identified violations by the suppliers of
Walmarts code of ethics, such as citations for
health and safety hazards, use of child labor,
and obstruction of workers right to join a
union. The 100-page report offers recommendations for Walmart, its suppliers, and policy
makers.
Public health policy statements

The American Public Health Association
(APHA) adopted several new policy
statements related to worker health and
safety. Breast cancer and occupation:
the need for action urges government
agencies to focus research on causes of
cancer and toxic use reduction. Ensuring workplace protections for temporary
workers calls on Congress to amend
labor laws, as well as states and localities
to adopt bills of rights for this vulnerable population. Preventing environmental and occupational health effects of
diesel exhaust urges OSHA to propose
a regulation, and government agencies
to address diesel exposure with control
technology or cleaner substitutes. The
new policies, which are developed by
APHA members, were adopted in November 2014 at the associations annual
meeting.
American Public Health Association - Occupational Health & Safety Section
Protecting Workers for a Century 1914-2014
Credit for each image available at http://bit.ly/1h6j9h2
They interviewed workers in the industry who

described being stuck with needles, hit by flying objects, forced to work at a rapid pace, and
exposed to thick dust that makes it difficult to
breathe. The authors describe the industrys
reliance on labor provided through staffing
agencies and findings from OSHA inspections.
They also offer more than a dozen recommendations for municipal governments to ensure
jobs are safe for recycling workers.
Image credits, upper left to lower right; all are cropped from original format. Lewis Hine, Breaker boys working in Ewen Breaker of Pennsylvania Coal Company, 1911; Lincoln Cushing, Mujeres embarazadas! Pregnant women! 1979; Earl Dotter, cable inspectors on Verrazano Narrows Bridge,
NY, 2000; Luther D. Bradley, $acred Motherhood, 1907; Earl Dotter, Brooklyn hospital laundry workers with needles found in linens, 1997; Richard V. Correll, An injury to all, 1980; Bob Gumpert, fiberglass insulation manufacturing, Willows, Calif., 2003; Marilyn Anderson, 100 years of
solidarity, 1989; Lewis Hine, Bibb Mill No. 1, Macon, Georgia, 1909; Simon Ng, Our Times magazine (Canada), 1985; Robert Gumpert, garment presser, NY, 1983; Domingo Ulloa, Short-handled hoe, 1969. Poster designed by Lincoln Cushing 2014 in honor of workers everywhere.
.
Printed by Inkworks Press, Berkeley
www.apha.org/membergroups/sections/aphasections/occupational/
Poster to celebrate the centennial of the American

Public Health Associations OHS Section (November
2014).
41
Tatiana Belova
42
National News Coverage of Worker Health and

Safety Topics
ne of the most promising developments over the last year was the attention that journalists devoted to worker health and safety topics. Investigative reporters with ProPublica,
the Center for Public Integrity, and National Public Radio, among others, scrutinized issues
of deep concern to workers and their advocates. For example, The New York Times investigation
of the prevalence of safety hazards and wage violations in nail salons brought national attention
to issues faced by immigrant workers. Several of the reporters featured below were recognized
with awards for their excellence in journalism.
A number of regional media outlets also invested in reporting on worker safety topics. Deaths on
the job in Texas, and disabling injuries among construction workers at the former World Trade
Center site in New York City, were some of the topics covered in the last year. These and other
notable regional reporting are profiled in Section II of our report.
Governor Cuomos Office
A Victory for Nail Salon

Workers
In May 2015, state and local officials in New
York took decisive action to protect nail salon
workers after a New York Times investigation
revealed an industry rife with occupational
hazards, discrimination, and wage violations.
In The Price of Nice Nails and Perfect Nails,
Poisoned Workers, reporter Sarah Maslin Nir
told the stories of nail salon workers who had
experienced multiple miscarriages, breathing
problems, lung diseases, painful skin disorders,
and cancer. On the health problems among
nail salon workers, Nir wrote: Stories of illness
and tragedy abound at nail salons across the
country, of children born slow or special, of
miscarriages and cancers, of coughs that will
not go away and painful skin afflictions. The
stories have become so common that older
manicurists warn women of child-bearing age
away from the business, with its potent brew
of polishes, solvents, hardeners and glues that
nail workers handle daily.
Nir and her colleagues interviewed more than
150 nail salon workers and owners. They found
that a majority are paid below minimum wage,
while some dont get paid at all, and others
report physical and verbal abuse as well as a
caste system of ethnic discrimination.
Advocates join NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo as he signs a

law to protect nail salon workers. NYCOSHs Charlene
Obernauer stands behind the Governor and is joined by
(from L-R): M. Pinto (NAPAWF), J. Yoo (Asian Am. Fed.), L.
Ranjit-Adhikaar, S. McQuade (NYCOSH), S. Sim, P. Eng (NY
Womens Foundation), C.Heastie (NY State Assembly) and
N. Chhetri-Adhikaar (July 2015).
In June 2015, the investigative series was

awarded a Sidney Award from the Sidney
Hillman Foundation, which honors outstanding
pieces of socially conscious journalism.
The New York Times series wasnt the first
to bring the occupational conditions inside
nail salons to the forefront indeed, worker
advocates have been calling attention to the
problem for years but Nirs investigation did
prompt swift action from officials. Shortly after
the Times articles appeared in May, New York
City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a series
of measures, including sending out hundreds
National News Coverage of Worker Health and Safety Topics
43
44
In particular, the task force was charged with

implementing regulations that require the use
of protective equipment (such as respiratory
protection, gloves, and personal fans), as well
as enforcing rules that give all nail salon workers the right to demand and wear personal
protective equipment at any time. The governors actions also require nail salons to post
information in multiple languages that alert
workers to their rights to legal wages and safe
working conditions. In announcing the actions,
Cuomo said: We will not stand idly by as workers are deprived of their hard-earned wages
and robbed of their most basic rights. This
Task Force will crack down on these kinds of
abuses in the nail salon industry, enforce all of
New Yorks health and safety regulations, and
help ensure that no one regardless of their
citizenship status or what language they speak
is illegally victimized by their employer.
Just days after the Times investigation published, New York Citys Department of Consumer Affairs sent a letter to the US Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),
urging the agency to provide health and safety
consultations to nail salon owners as well as review and revise permissible exposure limits for
toxics in the workplace. In addition to calling
on OSHA to launch a large-scale compliance review of New York City nail salons, Julie Menin,
the citys consumer affairs commissioner, asked
OSHA to consider targeted salon inspections,
particularly since nail salon workers, who
are among the most vulnerable and exploited
in the City, are not likely to come forward,
even in the face of serious hazards. (In the

Alexander Dubovitskiy
of volunteers and city personnel to distribute

information on workers rights in nail salons
and in neighborhoods where salon workers
typically live. In addition, Nir reported that
staff from the citys Department of Consumer Affairs began visiting salons to collect nail
products and verify claims that the products
were nontoxic. At the state level, New York
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a multiagency task force to investigate wage theft at nail
salons, implement new standards to protect
workers from chemical hazards, and shut down
unlicensed salons.
Times investigation, OSHA administrator David

Michaels admitted that the agencys chemical
exposure standards are outdated and current
legal standards could still expose workers to
health risks.)
At the federal level, also in response to the
Times articles, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
and Charles Schumer (D-NY) wrote to OSHA to
demand a swift investigation into nail salons
and an emergency update to existing chemical
exposure limits. (In June 2015, OSHA and the
Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division created two new educational documents
informing nail salon workers about chemical
safety and fair wages.) Just weeks before The
New York Times published its investigation,
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Susan Collins
(R-ME) introduced the Personal Care Products
Safety Act, which would strengthen the US
Food and Drug Administrations authority to
regulate cosmetic ingredients.
In July 2015, Gov. Cuomo signed legislation
that gave state officials the authority to shut
down nail salons acting illegally, allows unlicensed nail salon workers to register with the
state as trainees, and issued new regulations
for personal protective equipment. Lawmakers
in New Jersey also introduced legislation that
would institute random inspections annually
of at least 5 percent of nail salons and require
ventilation and other safety precautions.
Sarah Maslin Nir and colleagues. The Price of
Nice Nails & Perfect Nails, Poisoned Workers. The New York Times. May 7-8, 2015.
http://nyti.ms/1IRqSJq
http://nyti.ms/1GTmUeJ
The impact of toxic chemicals on salon workers

and long-term policy solutions is explored in
Beauty and Its Beast: Unmasking of Impacts of
Toxic Chemicals on Salon Workers, Womens
Voices for the Earth, November 2014.
http://bit.ly/1NcrcCK
Investigative reporters
uncover coordinated efforts
to dismantle workers
compensation
I lost a hand. I didnt lose a hook.
Whedbees story was featured in the groundbreaking WC series Insult to Injury: Americas Vanishing Worker Protections, in which
reporters Michael Grabell (ProPublica) and
Howard Berkes (NPR) examined reams of
insurance data, state laws, and medical and
court records to provide an unprecedented
look into the unraveling of WC protections.
Their investigation, which was published in
March 2015, found that since 2003, legislators
in 33 states have enacted laws that reduce WC
benefits and make it more difficult for workers whove experienced certain occupational
injuries and diseases to qualify for benefits. In
addition, employers and insurers are taking
increasing control over an injured workers
medical decisions in 37 states, workers are
now prohibited from choosing their own doctors and must pick from a list provided by employers. In California, the investigation found,
45
Bethany Boggess/Worker Defense Project
That quote is from Dennis Whedbee, a derrickman working in North Dakota who lost part
of his arm in 2012 after a well he was working

on blew, releasing oil and sludge that had
been pressurized at more than 700 pounds
per square inch. The incident is exactly what
workers compensation (WC) was created to
address, according to a joint investigation from
ProPublica and National Public Radio (NPR),
but over the past decade, states have begun
dismantling their WC systems so thoroughly that many injured workers are simply left
destitute.
Young advocates in Austin, TX (March 2015).
Jeff Swensen/ProPublica
insurers can reopen old cases and deny medical

care on the opinion of physicians whove never
even seen the injured worker. In other states,
legislators have arbitrarily capped WC benefits.
Today, workers with the same injury face wildly
different coverage depending on where the
injury occurred for example, the maximum
compensation for the loss of an eye in Pennsylvania is $261,525; in Alabama, its $27,280.
Many changes to WC a social contract between workers and employers made a century
ago in which workers give up their right to sue
in return for medical benefits and a modicum
of financial security have been led by big
businesses with the help of Republican majorities in state legislatures, the investigation
found. And while employers complain about
premium costs, WC insurance rates are at a
25-year low. (The investigative series includes
interactive features in which readers can view
changes to WC by state.)
ideal candidate for a realistic hand prosthetic

with moveable fingers, also know as a myoelectric prosthesis. However, the North Dakota
Workforce Safety and Insurance agency decided to fly Whedbee to Minnesota to get a
second opinion that physician recommended a split-hook prosthesis, which costs $50,000
less. Whedbee appealed the agencys decision
to deny him the realistic hand prosthetic, but
he lost. The investigation noted that in other
states even those with low WC benefits such
as Alabama and Georgia injured workers are
regularly provided with myoelectric prostheses.
The scope of the changes, and the extent

to which taxpayers are paying the costs of
workplace accidents, has attracted almost no
national attention, in part because the federal
government stopped monitoring state WC laws
more than a decade ago, Grabell and Berkes
wrote. The cuts have gone so deep in some
states that judges who hear WC cases, top
defense attorneys for companies and even the
father of the modern WC system say they are
inhumane.
For former oil worker Whedbee, his doctor
back home in Pennsylvania said he was an
Worker Defense Project
46
Dennis Whedbee got a tattoo of his lost hand after

workers comp offered him a prosthesis with a hook
instead of the one with a hand his doctor recommended.
Construction workers and allies in Dallas remember

family members and coworkers killed on the job.
Whats the difference? You lose your leg, it

dont matter where you lose it, Eric Bennett,
whose insurer says hes only entitled to the
Alabama max of $44,000 for the leg he lost
at a fertilizer mill, told Grabell and Berkes.
It should be the same. A leg is a leg. In the
series interactive feature How Much is a
Limb Worth? average maximum compensation for the work-related loss of a leg ranges
from more than $457,000 in Nevada to less
than $50,000 in Minnesota, Massachusetts, and
Alabama.
The investigative series prompted a number of
actions. In California, labor officials said they
would audit how Travelers Insurance handled
the case of Joel Ramirez, a former warehouse
manager who was featured in the series and
was injured in 2009 when a 900-pound crate
that had been unsafely stacked fell on him.
Also after the ProPublica/NPR series, California

labor officials warned insurance companies
not to use the 2012 law to reopen old cases
and deny injured workers previously approved
home health care. In fact, California legislators
introduced a bill that would prohibit insurance
companies from reviewing benefits that have
already been agreed upon or approved by a
judge unless there has been a change in the
workers condition or the treatment is deemed
unsafe, reported Grabell, who noted that the
California Chamber of Commerce described
the bill as a job killer. In Alabama, less than
a month after the series debuted, legislators
introduced a bill to significantly raise the maximum compensation for workers who suffer an
amputation on the job.
On the same day that ProPublica/NPR first published its investigation, OSHA released its own
report on the social and financial impacts of
workplace injuries and illnesses as well as the
increasing difficulties workers face in accessing
the WC system. The report, entitled Adding
Inequality to Injury, states: For many injured
workers and their families, a workplace injury
creates a trap which leaves them less able to
save for the future or to make the investments
in skills and education that provide the opportunity for advancement. These injuries and
illnesses contribute to the pressing issue of
income inequality: they force working families out of the middle class and into poverty,
and keep the families of lower-wage workers
from entering the middle class. Work injuries
hamper the ability of many working families to
realize the American Dream.
Michael Grabell, Howard Berkes, and colleagues. Insult to Injury: Americas Vanishing
Worker Protections. ProPublica/NPR, March
4-5, 2015.
www.propublica.org/series/workers-compensation
Adding Inequality to Injury: The Costs of

Failing to Protect Workers on the Job. OSHA,
March 2015.
www.dol.gov/osha/report/20150304-inequality.pdf
Nurses face career-ending

workplace injuries
Despite high rates of occupational injuries
among nurses, most hospitals have not taken
aggressive action to protect their employees,
wrote National Public Radios (NPR) Daniel
Zwerdling in a five-part investigative series on
injured nurses. Zwerdling began the series in
February 2015 with the story of Tove Schuster,
a nurse at a medical center in Philadelphia who
said she felt something pop as she helped
her nursing colleagues lift a 300-pound patient. Later that same day, Schusters husband
found her crawling on the floor she couldnt
walk. Eventually, a surgeon repaired her damaged spinal disc with a metal cage and screws.
47
I can finally walk and sit again without being

in excruciating pain, Schuster told NPR. But
the career I had as a floor nurse is over.
The NPR investigation revealed that for decades, researchers have found that the tradi-
As of August 2015, the ProPublica/NPR series

was named a finalist for the Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award.
Katarzyna Biaasiewicz
Travelers initially provided Ramirez, who uses

a wheelchair and became incontinent due to
his injuries, with a home health aide. However,
the company cut off the home care after the
enactment of a 2012 state law meant insurers
could scrutinize old cases under new, more
stringent medical reviews.
Sarah Smith/SEIU 121RN
Jorge Cabrera of SoCalCOSH kicks off a press conference

at the city hall in Los Angeles (April 2015).
48
tional way nurses are taught to move patients

with bent knees and straight backs still
exposes them to injury risks. Nursing employees experience more arm and back injuries
than nearly every other occupation. Zwerdling
also found that while some hospitals have reduced lifting injuries among nurses by up to 80
percent using special machinery and intensive
training, most hospitals have yet to take similar
actions to protect staff.
To illustrate hospitals indifference toward
nursing injuries, Zwerdling and his colleagues
interviewed Terry Cawthorn, a nurse at Mission
Hospital in Asheville, NC, who injured her back
while helping a patient. Two more injuries followed, and eventually Cawthorn had to have
spinal surgery. Zwerdling reported that even
though court documents show that hospital
staff acknowledged Cawthorns injury happened at work, the hospitals lawyer argued
that she partially injured her back while lifting
a casserole out of the oven. The hospital terminated Cawthorns employment while she was
recovering from back surgery and later refused
her workers compensation benefits.
The NPR series also analyzed policy and regulatory efforts to reduce and prevent nursing
injuries, finding that even when states do pass
protective bills, there are few resources to
actually enforce new requirements or conduct
safety inspections inside hospitals. In March,
OSHA administrator David Michaels told Zwerdling that while he would like to issue new
standards to protect nurses, the agency had
no plans to do so. However, in June, Zwerdling

reported on a new OSHA effort the first of
its kind to crack down on hospitals and potentially fine those that do not implement safe
practices for preventing nursing injuries.
Weve seen from the statistics how bad the
problems are, but we havent been to that
many hospitals and the NPR stories helped
motivate us to say, What can we do? Michaels said in the NPR story. Its time for us to
start doing some enforcement to make sure
fewer workers are hurt.
The Injured Nurses series won a March 2015
Sidney Award from the Sidney Hillman Foundation, which honors outstanding pieces of
socially conscious journalism.
Daniel Zwerdling and colleagues. Injured
Nurses series. NPR. February-March 2015.
www.npr.org/series/385540559/injured-nurses
Safety hazards continue while

mine owners ignore fines
Thousands of mine operators fail to pay fines
for violating safety standards, and federal
regulators are either unable or unwilling to
enforce collection, according to a joint investigation by National Public Radio (NPR) and
Mine Safety and Health News. The special
investigative series, Delinquent Mines, began in November 2014 with the story of Jack
Blankenship, a miner who in 2010 was pinned
under a 300-pound slab of rock in the Aracoma Alma coal mine in Logan County, WV. In
the two years prior to the incident, the mines
owner, Massey Energy, had been cited by federal regulators more than 120 times for falling
rock violations, wrote reporter Howard Berkes.
In fact, at the time of Blankenships injury, the
mine owed $200,000 in overdue mine safety
fines.
The joint news investigation examined two
decades-worth of federal mine data, finding
that 2,700 mining companies failed to pay
nearly $70 million in overdue fines. Reporters
also found that mines that fail to pay penalties
To the people who continue to run an operation that puts people at risk on a daily basis,
this is a bonanza, Davitt McAteer, a former
assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and
health and an independent investigator of
three recent mine disasters, told NPR.
This is to them, I can beat this system,
McAteer added. This is the kind of attitude
that leads to mine disasters.
In response to the NPR and Mine Safety and
Health News investigation, the Inspector General at the US Department of Labor launched
an audit into how MSHA handles delinquent
mine safety penalties. Also after the series was
published, MSHA took action against a particular delinquent mine. The agency notified
the company that it had two weeks to pay
the overdue penalty or its mine would be shut
down. Within less than a hour of being shut
down, the mine owners agreed to a payment
plan; however, experts arent sure such an
approach on MSHAs part would stand up if
legally challenged.
Howard Berkes and colleagues. Delinquent
Mines series. NPR & Mine Safety and Health
News. November 2014.
www.npr.org/series/363761319/delinquent-mines
The toll of occupational illness

and the challenges of chemical
safety
Silica is the perfect example of the governments failure to properly regulate toxics in
the workplace and protect worker health,
according to an investigative series from the
Center for Public Integrity on the tragedy of
occupational illnesses. The series, which noted
that OSHA has been working for 40 years to
tighten its silica exposure rules, found that
US rules for preventing worker illnesses and
deaths due to chemicals, fumes, and dust are
so outdated and broken that even OSHA warns
employers not to rely on its exposure standards
to keep workers safe. In fact, the epidemic of

occupational illness is a predictable result of a
bifurcated system of hazard regulation one
for the general public and another, far weaker,
for workers. Risks of cancer and other illnesses
considered acceptable at a workplace wouldnt
be tolerated outside of it, according to the
investigation.
OSHA chief David Michaels told reporters that
the agencys standards for chemical exposures
are either outdated or nonexistent. He cited
the solvent hexane as an example: OSHAs exposure limit for hexane, which affects the nervous system, is 500 parts per million thats 10
times the level that the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health says is safe.
The series begins with Chris Johnson, a bricklayer who developed acute silicosis after a fivemonth job exposed him to massive amounts
of dust. Johnson and his co-workers were
given paper masks, which arent effective in
protecting against microscopic silica particles;
they also had wet-cutting tools that suppress
the dust with water, but they were prohibited
from using them because they made too much
of a mess. Johnson, just 40 years old, is expected to survive less than five years. Reporter Jim
Morris and colleagues write: Six weeks before
Chris Johnson was born in 1974, the US government issued a warning about a substance that
would nearly kill him 30 years later.
49
The Center for Public Integrity series, which

was co-published with Slate, chronicles the
stories of many families affected by occupaMaryam Jameel/Center for Public Integrity
are more dangerous than mines that do, with

injury rates 50 percent higher.
Peter Dooley of National COSH leads protesters at the US

Chamber of Commerce (June 2015).
Maryam Jameel/Center for Public Integrity
Yvette Flore and her son Mark are featured in the Center
for Public Integritys investigation Unequal Risk.
tional illnesses, such as Yvette Flores, whose

son was born with significant developmental
disabilities after she was exposed to lead and
the solvent methanol on the job. The series
also explores how industry strategizes to delay
meaningful regulations, describes the challenges of OSHA rulemaking, and offers a comprehensive explanation of the methodology used
in the investigative articles.
50
Jim Morris and colleagues. Unequal Risk.

Center for Public Integrity, June-July 2015.
www.publicintegrity.org/environment/unequal-risk
Worker health and safety in

the oil and gas boom
In an investigative series examining worker
safety amid the oil and gas boom, EnergyWire
reporter Mike Soraghan found that the oil and
gas industry is home to more deaths from fires
and explosions than any other industry group.
While less than one percent of the US workforce is employed in the sector, theyve experienced more than 10 percent of workplace
fatalities from fires and explosions in the last
five years. In addition to putting workers at
risk, carelessness at oil and gas worksites puts
nearby residents in harms way as well.
Industry spokespeople say there are few safety
problems at oil and gas facilities, but OSHA
records cited in the series suggest otherwise.
For example, one OSHA investigation revealed
that contract workers killed in a 2011 explosion
in Wyoming had no formal training before

being charged with installing a fuel line; the
explosion threw two 4,000-gallon metal tanks
more than 120 feet and caused a 10-acre fire.
Oil and gas producers are exempt from OSHA
rules designed to prevent industrial explosions,
though the 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in
West, TX, prompted federal officials to re-examine the exemption, attracting the ire of oil
and gas companies.
The EnergyWire series also investigated an
emerging hazard within the shale boom: petroleum vapors. That story began with 21-yearold Dustin Bergsing, who was found dead
near the hatch opening of a crude oil tank. An
autopsy report stated that Bergsing, who was
working in North Dakotas Bakken oil fields,
died of hydrocarbon poisoning due to inhalation of petroleum vapors.
This is novel. This is new, Eric Brooks, director
of the OSHA office covering North and South
Dakota, told EnergyWire. Were looking at
the next generation of hazards, and these atmospheric hazards, I believe, are one of them.
On June 15, Politico published an investigation
into worker deaths in the Bakken oil fields,
finding that one person dies about every six
weeks. The investigative analysis, produced by
Reveal at the Center for Investigative Reporting, was the first accounting of such deaths,
though authors estimated that actual deaths
are probably higher than whats been documented. Reporter Jennifer Gollan found that
big oil companies often shield themselves from
any liability through a network of smaller subcontractors, which means the industry has few
incentives to create safer working conditions.
North Dakota legislators attempted to pass a
bill that would limit the ability of oil companies to shield themselves from liability, but the
effort died amid heavy lobbying from the oil
industry.
Mike Soraghan. Danger Zone: Examining
Safety in the Oil & Gas Boom. EnergyWire,
October-December 2014.
www.eenews.net/special_reports/danger_zone
Jennifer Gollan. Workers Are Paying for

Cheap Gas with Their Lives. Politico Magazine
and Reveal, June 15, 2015.
http://politi.co/1DwQxHq
Manufacturing scientific doubt

on benzene exposure and
occupational illness
US oil and chemical companies spent millions
to counteract growing evidence on the toxic
effects of benzene, a known carcinogen. In analyzing reams of internal emails, memoranda,
letters, and minutes from meetings, the Center
for Public Integrity exposed a coordinated
strategy to use science to manufacture doubt
on the links between low doses of benzene
exposure and often-fatal diseases and,
ultimately, to shield the industry from costly
lawsuits and regulations.
Prior to the Shanghai study, the oil industrys

trade association, the American Petroleum Institute, spent $25,000 to review National Cancer Institute (NCI) research that found benzene
exposure increased the risk of diseases other
than leukemia and that such impacts were
triggered at exposures lower than OSHA limits.
Further NCI research suggested there was no
safe threshold for benzene exposure. According to Lombardi, the industry-backed review of
the NCI work cast enough doubt that federal
officials did not rely on the NCI findings to estimate benzenes cancer-causing effects.
The industry-backed Shanghai study, which
studied benzene exposure among Chinese
workers, confirmed a link between benzene
exposure and acute myeloid leukemia as well
as myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of bone
51
tomas1111
At the center of the strategy was the Shanghai Health Study, which was underwritten by
petrochemical giants such as ExxonMobil and
Shell and supposedly designed to examine the
impact of benzene exposure on worker health,

wrote reporter Kristen Lombardi. However,
documents used in the Center for Public Integrity investigation suggest that study funders
expected results that would downplay the
dangers of benzene even before the research
began.
marrow cancer. The petrochemical industry

generally acknowledges these associations,
but workers who were exposed to much lower
concentrations of benzene have succumbed to
other types of blood and bone marrow cancers. No matter what the health outcome, the
Shanghai study results have been used in court
to cast doubt on worker claims and deny industry liability for worker illnesses.
http://bit.ly/1MPtudL
Why dont consumers care

about labor practices?
Americans are increasingly using their pocketbooks to support environmentally sustainable foods, but too little attention is given
to whether the workers who pick, process, or
serve our food are being treated fairly. Reporter Stephen Lurie explored this issue in an
article in Vox, writing that there isnt a standalone certification out there that verifies good
labor practices. Even as environmental, animal,
and economic movements have started to compete for shelf space with conventional food,
there is no widely available option for consumers who wish to shop and eat labor-friendly.
Federal labor statistics find that nine out of
the 10 lowest-paying jobs in America are in
Remember fatality victims beyond Workers Memorial Day

When Delfino Velazquez, 43, was
killed on the job in November 2014,
his community in Staten Island, NY,
didnt hide their outrage. Similarly,
when Ramiro Loa, 28, suffered a
fatal fall in June 2015 at a construction site in Austin, TX, his community hit the streets. Remembering
workers who are killed on the job
is not reserved for Workers Memorial Day. In the days immediately
following Velazquezs and Loas
deaths, groups including the Worker
Vigil and march in Austin, TX for deceased construction
Defense Project (WDP), National Day worker Ramiro Loa (July 2015).
Laborer Organizing Network, and El
Centro del Inmigrante organized protests and vigils in their honor. Speaking to a KXAN reporter, WDPs Brigid Hall said: These
deaths keep happening over and over again and the appropriate oversight is not happening to make sure construction workers are safe.
Bethany Boggess/ Worker Defense Project
52
One such worker was John Thompson, who

built scaffolding for refineries and chemical
plants and would use pure benzene to clean
his hands and tools at the end of the day.
Thompson was eventually diagnosed with a
subtype of acute myeloid leukemia known
as inversion 16. In a related court case, a
researcher involved in the industry-funded
Shanghai study used its findings to raise doubts
about the link between benzene exposure
and Thompsons illness and eventual death.
In speaking to the Center for Public Integrity
about the Shanghai study, Thompsons nephew
said: Theres obvious vested interest here. If
oil companies are willing to spend $36 million
to fund research, how much are they afraid of
losing?
Kristen Lombardi and colleagues. Benzene

and American Workers: An American Tragedy. Center for Public Integrity, Dec. 4, 2014
in the series Exposed: Decades of denial on
poisons.
However, the article did highlight some positive trends, such as a project at the B Lab, a
nonprofit that uses the power of business to
solve social and environmental problems. The
project certifies participating companies as
ethically sound, though that might not always
mean a certified company upholds the highest labor standards. The article also cites the
Diners Guide to Ethical Eating, an app from
the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United
that helps users find establishments that meet
certain employment standards.
Stephen Lurie. You care about where your
food comes from. Shouldnt you care about
who grew and picked it? Vox. April 2, 2015.
www.vox.com/2015/4/2/8203301/foodmovement-labor
Workplace surveillance
endangering health and safety
Management by stress is pushing workers to
the brink, reports Jessica Bruder, who investigated the impact of workplace surveillance on
worker health and safety. For example, at UPS,
drivers are monitored constantly, with metrics
being collected on everything from when a
driver buckles a seat belt to when the trucks
bulkhead door is opened. Known as telematics,
the ability of management to gather real-time
data on a workers every movement means
workers are under constant pressure to work
as quickly as possible and they must often
justify the simplest acts, such as taking time
123branex
the food and restaurant industry. And beyond

wages, working conditions in the food manufacturing sector can be abysmal as well. Lurie
notes a number of factors that likely contribute to insufficient concern for food laborers,
including industry lobbying efforts that argue
fair labor practices will only result in higher
food prices. But another contributor may also
be lack of consumer knowledge while food
labels advertising the human treatment of
animals or lack of agricultural antibiotics have
become common, consumers rarely see labels
advertising fair or safe conditions for laborers.
to use the bathroom. One worker told Bruder: Its like youre fighting for your job every
day. They harass you: Why did it take you 10
minutes here? Why did it take you this long
there? They want you to hate your job and
quit so they can hire somebody at half the
pay.
Bruder interviewed Laura Graham, a seasonal
worker at an Amazon warehouse. Her work
tasks were constantly being timed so much
so, that when a mistake put her five minutes
behind, her supervisor tracked her down to
scold her. The constant pressure took a toll on
Graham, who was eventually diagnosed with
a painful foot condition. To compensate, she
took ibuprofen for the pain and kept off her
feet when she wasnt at work. Bruder noted
that decades ago, experts had predicted technology would transform productivity and be
a boon for workers. But while technology has
indeed increased productivity in dramatic fashion, almost all of the gains have been turned
into corporate profits, with CEOs now making
nearly 300 times as much as the typical worker.
53
Payphoto
Jessica Bruder. These workers have a new

demand: Stop watching us. The Nation, May
27, 2015.
http://bit.ly/1JO83br
H-2 visa workers describe

working, living conditions as
modern slavery
54
Every year, more than 100,000 people from

countries such as Mexico and the Philippines
come to the US through the H-2 visa program,
which allows companies to legally import
labor into the country to perform jobs they
say Americans wont do. But a BuzzFeed News
investigation based on thousands of court documents and government data found H-2 visa
workers are often exploited and abused, while
the government does little about it. In some
cases, employers confiscate workers passports,
screen their mail, prevent them from having
visitors or leaving their employer-provided
housing, and sexually harass workers. One foreign worker told reporters: We live where we
work, and we cant leave. We are tied to the
company. Our visas are in the companys name.
If the pay and working conditions arent as we
wish, who can we complain to? We are like
modern-day slaves.
So much employer control and such little government oversight leaves H-2 visa workers at
risk of injury as well. The investigative article
tells the story of Leonardo Espinabarro Telles,
who came to the US on an H-2 visa to work
for Crystal Rock Amusements, a company that
stages county fairs. His clothing got caught
in the giant spinning blades of a generator,
and Telles was ripped to death. The machines

protective guards were either broken or had
been removed, and an OSHA investigation
found that management knew of the safety
risk but didnt tell workers. When an OSHA investigator asked the companys owner whether
workers were given safety training, the owner
said: How can you train these guys? Do you
train someone to eat a hot dog?
A former investigator with the US Department
of Labors Wage and Hour Division said a substantial portion of companies involved in the
H-2 visa program maliciously violate labor
protection laws.
In August 2015, the BuzzFeed News investigation was awarded a Sidney Award from
the Sidney Hillman Foundation, which honors
outstanding pieces of socially conscious journalism.
Jessica Garrison, Ken Bensinger, and Jeremy
Singer-Vine. The New American Slavery: Invited to the U.S., Foreign Workers Find a Nightmare. BuzzFeed News, July 24, 2015.
http://bzfd.it/1Io5jiI
The Year Ahead

Over the next 12 months, the presidential election will be in full swing. And by this time next
year, the major party candidates will be selected. Workers and their occupational health
and safety (H&S) allies will be examining the
nominees policy platforms for positions on
labor rights, regulations, and other workplace
protections. We expect labor unions, worker
centers, and other workers rights organizations to press those seeking political office
to commit to improving wages and working
conditions.
H&S advocates will continue to urge OSHA
to issue a final rule on crystalline silica and
for MSHA to propose one on the deadly dust
as well. They will take advantage of opportunities in their states and localities to adopt
much-needed worker protections, such as
those addressing heat-related illnesses and
safe patient-handling protocols. Workers and
their allies will engage with labor rights, public
health, and other groups to push for paid sick
day laws, both locally and nationally.
New media outlets, such as ProPublica and the
Center for Public Integrity, will continue to
challenge traditional media for compelling stories. As journalists found this past year, there
Read more at The Pump Handle

Much of the occupational health research and activity described in this report is covered in more detail at the public health blog The Pump Handle, http://
scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle. In
particular, the twice-monthly Occupational Health News Roundup highlights
local, national, and international news
stories on worker health and safety. All
past Roundups are available at: http://
scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/
category/occup-health-news-roundup
is plenty to investigate on the effects both

physical and economic of working conditions on peoples health and the quality of life
for their families and communities.
Although powerful interests in Washington,
DC, and in state capitals will continue to drive
an anti-regulatory agenda and attack labor
rights, workers and advocates will build on
recent victories to improve H&S and working
conditions. Workers voices will be more important than ever to secure improvements for
safety, health, and dignity at work.
The Year Ahead
55
Appendix: Peer-Reviewed Research on

Occupational Health & Safety Topics
(August 2014 through July 2015)
his year Occupational Health and Safety researchers published papers addressing a wide
range of hazards, involving unique worker populations, analyzing injury and illness trends,
and reporting on interventions. The following list represents some of the best from the last
12 months. Those marked with * are profiled in Section III of this report.
Arbury S, Jacklitsch B, et al. Heat illness and

death among workers - United States, 20122013. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2014 Aug
8;63(31):661-5.
Dembe AE, Yao X, et al. A novel method for

estimating the effects of job conditions on
asthma and chronic lung disease. J Asthma. 2014
Oct;51(8):799-807.
56
Foster CA, Dissanaike SD. Prevalence and consequences of positive blood alcohol levels among
patients injured at work. J Emerg Trauma Shock.
2014 Oct;7(4):268-73.
Han K, Trinkoff AM, Geiger-Brown J.Factors associated with work-related fatigue and recovery in
hospital nurses working 12-hour shifts. Workplace Health Saf. 2014 Oct;62(10):409-14.
Joe L, Roisman R, et al. Using multiple data
sets for public health tracking of work-related
injuries and illnesses in California. Am J Ind Med.
2014 Oct;57(10):1110-9.
Seabury SA, Scherer E, OLeary P, Ozonoff A,

Boden L. Using linked federal and state data to
study the adequacy of workers compensation
benefits. Am J Ind Med. 2014 Oct;57(10):1165-73.
Sears JM, Bowman SM, Hogg-Johnson S, Shorter ZA. Occupational injury trends derived from
trauma registry and hospital discharge records:
lessons for surveillance and research. J Occup
Environ Med. 2014 Oct;56(10):1067-73.
Tak S, Grattan K, et al. Impact of differential
injury reporting on the estimation of the total
number of work-related amputations. Am J Ind
Med. 2014 Oct;57(10):1144-8.
Wuellner SE, Bonauto DK. Exploring the relationship between employer recordkeeping and
underreporting in the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. Am J Ind Med. 2014
Oct;57(10):1133-43.
Allen EM, Alexander BH, et al. Mortality

experience among Minnesota taconite mining
industry workers. Occup Environ Med. 2014
Nov;71(11):744-9.
Kapellusch JM, Gerr FE, et al. Exposure-response

relationships for the ACGIH threshold limit value
for hand-activity level: results from a pooled
data study of carpal tunnel syndrome. Scand J
Work Environ Health. 2014 Nov;40(6):610-20.
Lee SJ, Nam B, et al. Acute symptoms associated
with chemical exposures and safe work practices
among hospital and campus cleaning workers: a
pilot study. Am J Ind Med. 2014 Nov;57(11):121626.
Ringen K, Dement J, et al. Risks of a lifetime in
construction. Part II: Chronic occupational diseases. Am J Ind Med. 2014 Nov;57(11):1235-45.
Anderson NJ, Fan ZJ, et al. Distribution of asthma by occupation: Washington State behavioral
risk factor surveillance system data, 2006-2009.
J Asthma. 2014 Dec;51(10):1035-42.
Fan ZJ, Bao S, et al. Predicting work-related

incidence of lateral and medial epicondylitis
using the strain index. Am J Ind Med. 2014
Dec;57(12):1319-30.
Kica J, Rosenman KD. Surveillance for work-related skull fractures in Michigan. J Safety Res.
2014 Dec;51:49-56.
Calvert GM, Rodriguez L, Prado JB. Worker

illness related to newly marketed pesticides
Douglas County, Washington, 2014. MMWR
Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015 Jan 23;64(2):42-4.
Dale AM, Ryan D, et al. Comparison of musculoskeletal disorder health claims between
construction floor layers and a general working population. Occup Environ Med. 2015
Jan;72(1):15-20.
Delp L, Mojtahedi Z, et al. A legacy of struggle:

the OSHA ergonomics standard and beyond,
Part I & II. New Solut. 2014 Jan 1;24(3):365-408.
Fernndez-Esquer ME, Fernndez-Espada N, et

al. The influence of demographics and working conditions on self-reported injuries among
Latino day laborers. Int J Occup Environ Health.
2015 Jan;21(1):5-13.
Hanson GC, Perrin NA, et al. Workplace violence
against homecare workers and its relationship
with workers health outcomes: a cross-sectional
study. BMC Public Health. 2015 Jan 17;15:11.
Halldin CN, Reed WR, et al. Debilitating lung
disease among surface coal miners with no underground mining tenure. J Occup Environ Med.
2015 Jan;57(1):62-7.
Harris-Adamson C, Eisen EA, et al. Biomechanical risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome: a
pooled study of 2474 workers. Occup Environ
Med. 2015 Jan;72(1):33-41.
Tucker S, Turner N. Sometimes it hurts when supervisors dont listen: the antecedents and consequences of safety voice among young workers.
J Occup Health Psychol. 2015 Jan;20(1):72-81.
Arcury TA, Kearney GD, et al. Work safety
culture of youth farmworkers in North Carolina: a pilot study. Am J Public Health. 2015
Feb;105(2):344-50.
Delp L, Riley K. Worker engagement in the
health and safety regulatory arena under changing models of worker representation. Labor
Studies Journal. Feb 2015.
Mazurek JM, White GE, et al. Patient-physician
communication about work-related asthma:
what we do and do not know. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2015 Feb;114(2):97-102.
Nadimpalli M, Rinsky JL, et al. Persistence of

livestock-associated antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among industrial hog operation
workers in North Carolina over 14 days. Occup
Environ Med. 2015 Feb;72(2):90-9.
White GE, Mazurek JM, Storey E. Employed
adults with asthma who have frequent workplace exposures. J Asthma. 2015 Feb;52(1):46-51.
Boden LI, Petrofsky YV, et al. Understanding the

hospital sharps injury reporting pathway. Am J
Ind Med. 2015 Mar;58(3):282-9.
Chen GX, Collins JW, et al. Vital signs: seat belt
use among long-haul truck driversUnited
States, 2010. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep.
2015 Mar 6;64(8):217-21.
Dong XS, Wang X, et al. Long-term health

outcomes of work-related injuries among construction workersfindings from the National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Am J Ind Med.
2015 Mar;58(3):308-18.
Franklin GM, Wickizer TM, et al. Workers
compensation: poor quality health care and the
growing disability problem in the United States.
Am J Ind Med. 2015 Mar;58(3):245-51.
Gu F, Han J, et al. Total and cause-specific mortality of US nurses working rotating night shifts.
Am J Prev Med. 2015 Mar;48(3):241-52.
Hohenadel K, Raj P, et al. The inclusion of women in studies of occupational cancer: a review
of the epidemiologic literature from 1991-2009.
Am J Ind Med. 2015 Mar;58(3):276-81.
Hurtado DA, Nelson CC, et al. Supervisors support for nurses meal breaks and mental health.
Workplace Health Saf. 2015 Mar;63(3):107-15.
Largo TW, Rosenman KD. Surveillance of
work-related amputations in Michigan using
multiple data sources: results for 2006-2012.
Occup Environ Med. 2015 Mar;72(3):171-6.
Graves JM, Miller M. Reduced sleep duration and

history of work-related injuries among Washington State adolescents with a history of working.
Am J Ind Med. 2015 Apr;58(4):464-71.
Appendix: Peer-Reviewed Research on Occupational Health & Safety Topics
57
Lipscomb HJ, Nolan J, Patterson D. Musculoskeletal concerns do not justify failure to use safer
sequential trigger to prevent acute nail gun
injuries. Am J Ind Med. 2015 Apr;58(4):422-7.
Forst L, Friedman L, et al. Spatial clustering of
occupational injuries in communities. Am J Public Health. 2015 Apr 23:e1-e8.
Gomaa AE, Tapp LC, et al. Occupational traumatic injuries among workers in health care facilities
- United States, 2012-2014. MMWR Morb Mortal
Wkly Rep. 2015 Apr 24;64(15):405-10.
Lipscomb HJ, Schoenfisch AL, et al. Workers
compensation claims for musculoskeletal disorders and injuries of the upper extremity
and knee among union carpenters in Washington State, 1989-2008. Am J Ind Med. 2015
Apr;58(4):428-36.
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Rep. 2015 Apr 10;64(13):343-6.
Welch L, Dement J, West G. Mortality among

sheet metal workers participating in a respiratory screening program. Am J Ind Med. 2015
Apr;58(4):378-91.
58
Rosenman KD, Beckett WS.Web based listing of

agents associated with new onset work-related
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Kearney GD, Rodriguez G, et al. Work safety climate, safety behaviors, and occupational injuries
of youth farmworkers in North Carolina. Am J
Public Health. 2015 Jul;105(7):1336-43.
Leigh JP, Markis CA, et al. Californias nurse-topatient ratio law and occupational injury. Int
Arch Occup Environ Health. 2015 May;88(4):47784.
Tsai RJ, Luckhaupt SE, et al. Risk of cancer
among firefighters in California, 1988-2007. Am
J Ind Med. 2015 Jul;58(7):715-29.
Hsieh YC, Apostolopoulos Y, Snmez S. Work

conditions and health and well-being of Latina
hotel housekeepers. J Immigr Minor Health.
2015 May 23. [Epub ahead of print]
Lax M. Not quite a win-win: the corporate agenda of the stay at work/return to work project.
New Solut. 2015 May;25(1):4-24.
Bejan A, Parker DL, et al. Two-Year Follow-up of

the Collision Auto Repair Safety Study (CARSS).
Ann Occup Hyg. 2015 Jun;59(5):534-46.
Bethancourt J, Cannon M. Fall protection:
structural efficacy of residential structures for
fall protection systems. Professional Safety. May
2015:58-64.
Fagan KM, Cropsey EB, Armstrong JL.Case cluster of pneumoconiosis at a coal slag processing
facility. Am J Ind Med. 2015 May;58(5):568-76.
Lipscomb HJ, Schoenfisch AL, et al. Contrasting

patterns of care for musculoskeletal disorders
and injuries of the upper extremity and knee
through workers compensation and private
health care insurance among union carpenters in
Washington State, 1989 to 2008. Am J Ind Med.
2015 Sep;58(9):955-63.
Mason KL, Retzer KD, et al. Occupational fatalities during the oil and gas boom - United States,
2003-2013. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015
May 29;64(20):551-4.
Newman KL, Leon JS, Newman LS. Estimating

occupational illness, injury, and mortality in
food production in the United States: A farmto-table analysis. J Occup Environ Med. 2015
Jul;57(7):718-25.
Perla ME, Iman E, et al. Agricultural occupational health and safety perspectives among
Latino-American youth. J Agromedicine.
2015;20(2):167-77.
Sears JM, Bowman SM, Hogg-Johnson S. Disparities in occupational injury hospitalization rates
in five states (2003-2009). Am J Ind Med. 2015
May;58(5):528-40.
Sparer EH, Herrick RF, Dennerlein JT. Development of a safety communication and recognition program for construction. New Solut. 2015
May;25(1):42-58.
Teran S, Blecker H, et al. Promoting adoption of
fall prevention measures among Latino workers
and residential contractors: Formative research
findings. Am J Ind Med. 2015 Aug;58(8):870-9.
Zierold KM. Teen worker safety training: methods used, lessons taught, and time spent. New
Solut. 2015 May;25(1):25-41.
iii

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The Year in U.S.

By Kim Krisberg & Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

Kim Krisberg is a freelance writer who specializes in

Graphic Design: TheresaWellingDesign.com

III. New Research on Worker Health and Safety.......................................................31

IV. National News Coverage of Worker Health and Safety Topics..........................43

The Year Ahead...........................................................................................................55

The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety: 2015 Report

The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety: 2015 Report

Introduction and Overview

featured the stories of workers who had been

Introduction and Overview

Other journalistic investigations were followed

The Federal Government and Occupational

ed at the state and local levels this year. On the

The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety: 2015 Report

The Federal Government and Occupational

OSHA issued a new regulation in September

The Federal Government and Occupational Health and Safety

Protecting Coal Miners from

Later that month, CSB Chair Moure-Eraso used

CSB: Controversy, Congress,

In March 2015, the House of Representatives

Manuel Manny Ehrlich and Rick Engler were

the hearing. The committee focused largely

The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety: 2015 Report

Council. In June, the CSB adopted new rules

tect construction and maintenance workers

President Obama nominated Kristen

Eye and face protection

Electrical hazards rule

OSHA proposed in March 2015 changes to its

Protecting workers exposed to

Clarifying employers duty to

The Federal Government and Occupational Health and Safety

OSHA standards on chemical

In October 2014, OSHA issued a request for

Safety protection for

Labor Secretary Tom Perez, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler,

by workers and employers. The comment period closed in June 2015.

High-profile and significant

The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety: 2015 Report

for example, OSHA proposed $116,200 in

Industries agreed to correct similar hazards,

Supreme Court rules in favor of pregnant UPS worker

In the majority ruling, Justice Stephen

Teamsters for a Democratic Union

In commenting on the courts ruling,

The Federal Government and Occupational Health and Safety

Severe Violator Enforcement

During the previous year, 42 companies were

Poultry workers represented by the United

McDonalds workers file OSHA

The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety: 2015 Report

and hospitalizations, as well as improving OSHAs website, publications, and communication

Debbie Berkowitz addresses an audience at a NIEHS

workers. The survey had more than 1,400

Farewell to OSHAs Debbie

The US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit

Upper Big Branch disaster follow-up