“Given the impressive credentials Dr. Michaels will bring as the OSHA administrator, I am confident that the initiatives launched by Secretary Solis to issue long overdue safety standards and bring back more vigorous enforcement of workplace safety and health standards will be realized,” said Woolsey.

Dr. David Michaels, an epidemiologist, is currently a research professor at the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. He has conducted numerous studies of the health effects of occupational exposure to toxic chemicals, including asbestos, metals and solvents, and has written extensively on science and regulatory policy.  

Michaels served as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety and Health between 1998 and 2001, responsible for protecting the health and safety of workers, communities and the environment surrounding the nation’s nuclear weapons facilities.  In that position, he worked on a bipartisan basis to help enact the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, an initiative to compensate nuclear weapons workers who developed occupational illnesses as a result of exposure to radiation, beryllium and other hazards. 

“GAO’s report makes clear that OSHA has strayed too far from its core mission of protecting the safety and health of workers on the job. The agency has spent too much time seeking voluntary compliance from employers and too little time enforcing the law,” said U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “I look forward to working with the Obama administration to see that OSHA effectively carries out its important responsibilities to the nation’s workforce.”

"The GAO findings only confirm what many had already known—the Bush administration’s misdirected reliance on voluntary programs siphoned scarce resources that were needed for enforcement of our nation’s health and safety laws,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “Fortunately, the Congress and Obama administration are committed help set OSHA on a new course to provide the additional resources and staff in order to ensure that agency all workers are able to return home safely after their shifts.”

“Taking a hands-off approach to a voluntary enforcement program is a recipe for disaster,” said U.S.Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), chairman of the Senate HELP Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee. “Unfortunately, under the Bush administration, enforcing the law often took a backseat to taking employers at their word. I look forward to working with the Obama Administration to build an agency that takes the initiative to keep businesses honest about the dangers their workers face."

“This report illustrates what many of us have been arguing all along - that when it comes to protecting America’s workers, voluntary safety programs by themselves don’t work,” said U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. “It’s time for OSHA to join the 21st Century and update their rules and regulations to confront the risks faced by today’s workers.  That’s why I have introduced the Protecting America’s Workers Act, and will continue to work with my colleagues and Secretary Solis to ensure that OSHA does everything in its power to keep our workers safe.”

The GAO found that OSHA did not properly ensure that only worksites which had exemplary safety programs were eligible for relief from routine inspections. The GAO found that 12 percent of the worksites participating in the program had an injury or illness rate higher than rates for their industry. In fact, one worksite participating in the VPP had an injury and illness rate 4 times higher than their industry average. OSHA performance goal is for VPP work sites to have an injury and illness rate of 50 percent less than their industry average.

In addition, OSHA continued to allow businesses to participate in the voluntary program even though companies were cited for serious safety violations. For example, one worksite was allowed to continue to participate in the VPP even though it had three separate fatalities over a five year period. Another workplace was cited for 10 violations related to a fatality, including seven serious violations, and one related to discrepancies in the site’s injury and illness logs, but was able to continue to avoid regular inspections as a result of their participation in the VPP.

Although VPP is intended to increase worker participation in safety decisions, GAO found that some employees at VPP sites said “that injury and illness rates requirements of the VPP are used as a tool by management to pressure workers not to report injuries and illnesses.”

OSHA also stated today that they have accepted GAO’s recommendations so that only eligible worksites participate in the VPP program and the agency will develop new performance goals and measures to ensure the program is effective.

To read the full GAO report, click here.

“I am thankful that under Secretary Solis’ leadership, the Department has decided to withdraw this proposed rule - which was developed in secrecy and without the input of health and safety experts,” said Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee. “The Secretary recognizes that the safety of workers is our top priority, and to do this we must be in the business of putting in place needed health and safety standards.”

The Washington Post reported last year on a proposal being developed by political appointees in secret with little consultation with career agency health and safety experts. The proposal would have added additional red tape to an already slow regulatory process.

Education and Labor Committee members introduced legislation last July to prevent the Department of Labor from finalizing the regulation. The Workforce Protections Subcommittee held a hearing on the proposal in September.

For more information on the proposal, click here.

The Enhanced Enforcement Program, created in 2003 by the Bush administration after an exposé into the poor safety and health record of the McWane Corporation, identifies high risk employers by their past behavior and targets them for additional scrutiny. However, the U.S. Department of Labor Inspector General found the Bush federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration did not properly carry out the initiative and it failed to effectively deter employers from putting workers’ lives at risk.

"It is essential that OSHA target its limited resources to inspect workplaces with the highest risk of hazardous conditions that have greater potential to cause injuries and fatalities,” said Elliot Lewis, assistant inspector general for audits at the U.S. Department of Labor. “While we cannot conclude that the enhanced enforcement would prevent subsequent fatalities, full and proper application of EEP procedures may have deterred and abated workplace hazards at the worksites of 45 employers where 58 subsequent fatalities occurred.”

The Inspector General report also referenced additional businesses that should have been included in the Enhanced Enforcement Program, but never were. The report cited the death of Raul Figueroa, a mechanic at Waste Management in Florida who was killed while repairing a truck. OSHA cited Waste Management for a serious violation that resulted in the death of Figueroa.

“For some time before his death, my stepfather complained about safety problems at the facility,” said Jesus Royas, Figueroa’s stepson. “Companies like Waste Management should not be allowed to cut corners and compromise safety.”

Witnesses also said the current program is too limited in scope because it does not focus on corporate-wide investigations and does not focus on the most flagrant violations that occur before workers are killed. 

“What is needed is a more systemic, holistic examination of the current OSHA enforcement regime, said Eric Frumin, director of health and safety at Change to Win. “Waste Management’s OSHA violations increased by 28 percent over the period 2003 to 2007. If Waste Management had implemented a comprehensive safety program, and held its managers accountable, Raul Figueroa might well be alive today.”

The current head of OSHA testified that the agency is working on improving the Enhanced Enforcement Program.

“The Enhanced Enforcement Program was designed…to focus enforcement efforts on recalcitrant employers,” said Jordan Barab, acting head of OSHA. “OSHA is exploring ways to reinvigorate the EEP, and the OIG report provides a starting point for our efforts to do this in the most effective way.”

Today is also Workers Memorial Day, which honors workers who lost their lives on the job due to hazardous working conditions. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, 5,657 workers died while on the job in 2007 – an average of about 15 a day.

While deaths on the job have significantly decreased since 1970 when Congress created the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, witnesses said that penalties have not been increased since 1990 and are much smaller than penalties contained in other federal laws.

“Nearly four decades after the [Occupational Safety and Health] Act was passed, enforcement of the job safety law remains weak and OSHA penalties remain low, particularly when compared with other safety and environmental laws,” said Margaret “Peg” Seminario, director of safety and health at the AFL-CIO. “Our analysis found that the average penalty for a serious violation is less than $1,000 and the average penalty involving workers deaths is $11,300.”

Witnesses said that OSHA’s penalties are too low and are often reduced after the initial citation. Nineteen year-old Jeremy Foster was killed in October 2004 while working at a sawmill in Ola, Ark. OSHA cited his employer for a ‘serious’ safety violation for improperly modifying a piece of equipment that resulted in his death. Even though Foster’s employer was cited for a ‘serious’ violation, the law only allows a fine up to $7,000.

“We were appalled to see the amount of the fine: $4,500. Surely this was an error,” said Rebecca Foster, Jeremy’s stepmother. “Shortly afterwards we read in our state newspaper that the fine had been reduced to only $2,250. Did they place a value of our only son’s life at this amount?”

While both civil and criminal penalties are available under the OSH Act, criminal prosecutions of egregious violations are rare and may only occur when a willful violation leads to the death of a worker. Even then, no matter how bad an employer acted, the maximum penalty is only a class B misdemeanor that may bring up to 6 months in prison. Other federal laws contain stricter penalties.

“In recent years, most of the criminal prosecutions for workers safety violations have been brought by the Justice Department's environmental crimes section,” said David Uhlman, former chief of the environmental crimes section. “While our worker safety regulations could be stronger, the primary flaw in our worker safety laws is not the rules we impose, but the lack of consequences for breaking those laws.”

According to Uhlman, there have been only 71 successful criminal prosecutions since 1970 under workers health and safety laws, a period when over 330,000 workers were killed in workplace fatalities.

Last week, members of the committee introduced the Protecting America’s Workers Act (H.R. 2067). The bill would update OSHA penalties, strengthen whistleblower protections, and ensure that bad employers are held accountable. For more information on the legislation, click here.

“It has been more than 30 years since the passage of the OSH Act, and it is badly in need of reform. While thousands of workers have been saved as a result of OSHA, 16 workers are killed and 11,200 workers are injured or made ill each and every day,” said Woolsey. “This legislation will strengthen OSHA by expanding coverage to millions of workers who are currently unprotected or inadequately protected, increasing civil and criminal penalties for those who violate the law, and by protecting those who blow the whistle on unsafe employer practices. I look forward to working with Chairman Miller and my colleagues on the committee to pass this legislation, and to partnering with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis to ensure that every American worker gets the protections that they deserve.”

“Beginning last Congress, we conducted a systematic examination of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and their ability to protect workers. We found that far too many employers were subject to a slap on the wrist or even let off the hook when they put their employee in danger,” said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the full committee. “This legislation is vital to improving the health and safety of American workers.”

Among other provisions, the bill would:

• Apply federal safety standards to workers who are not currently covered, including federal, state, and local employees, and some private sector employees;
• Protect workers who blow the whistle on unsafe workplace conditions;
• Increase penalties against employers for repeated and willful violations of the law, including making felony charges available when an employer's repeated and willful violation of the law leads to a worker's death or serious injury; and
• Give workers and their families the right to challenge reduction of fines and other penalties.

This Tuesday, April 28, is Workers' Memorial Day, a day to commemorate workers who have been killed on the job and to recommit to making workplaces safer. The Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on whether OSHA penalties are sufficient to deter health and safety violations.

For additional information on the Protecting America’s Workers Act, click here.

“I congratulate Jordan for being named as the acting head of OSHA. Jordan will bring a tremendous amount of valuable health and safety experience to an agency that has been neglected for far too long. Throughout his career, Jordan has demonstrated the specialized knowledge of health and safety issues needed to revamp the agency and strengthen its efforts to protect Americans while on the job. I look forward to working with Jordan and Secretary Solis to ensure that the agency works to protect the health and safety of our nation’s workers.”

Prior to joining the committee, Barab worked for four years at the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. He served as special assistant to the assistant director of Labor for OSHA from 1998 to 2001, and directed the safety and health program for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees from 1982 to 1998. A native of Palos Verdes Estates, California, Barab is a 1975 graduate of Claremont McKenna College in California and received a Master's degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University in 1978.

The Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act, H.R. 849, would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. The U.S. House of Representatives passed similar legislation last April by a bipartisan vote of 247 to 165.

“This deadly workplace hazard has been known and understood too long for us to continue to do nothing,” said Miller. “Yesterday’s news that another combustible dust explosion occurred in Wisconsin is further evidence that our nation needs to act. I hope that with today’s bill introduction and the arrival of a new administration, our nation will finally help workers and business stop these preventable, and all too often, deadly explosions.”

“A year has passed since tragedy struck our community, but so far we haven’t enacted any real change. We’ve been told over and over that it’s not a question of if this type of accident is going to happen again, but when,” said Rep. Barrow. “We know what needs to be done. We need to put regulations that work in the workplace. I don’t care how long it will take, but I’m going to keep on pushing it until it gets done. Our prayers go out to the folks who are still suffering from their losses and injuries. Meanwhile, we should take this anniversary as a reminder that we have not yet done what we can do to prevent something like this from happening again.”

“Yesterday’s accident was just another reminder of the unacceptable risk posed to workers by outdated regulations on combustible dust,” said Woolsey. “While OSHA turned a blind eye to this issue under President Bush, I know that the new administration will confront this threat with the urgency that it deserves. I look forward to working with my colleagues and the new Secretary of Labor to take the necessary steps to update OSHA regulations on these potentially deadly substances and protect our workers.”

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which has launched a major investigation of the Imperial Sugar explosion, has concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the CSB conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards.

It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. The CSB found no comprehensive OSHA rules that effectively control the risk of industrial dust explosions and recommended that OSHA issue a standard.

The Worker Protection against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act would address these hazards by:

• Directing OSHA to issue interim rules on combustible dust within 90 days. The rules would include measures to minimize hazards associated with combustible dust through improved housekeeping, engineering controls, worker training and a written combustible dust safety program;  
• Directing OSHA to issue final rules within eighteen months. The rules would be based on effective voluntary standards devised by the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit organization. In addition to items required in the interim rules, the final rules would include requirements for building design and explosion protection. The interim rules would remain in effect until the final rules are issued; and
• Directing OSHA to revise the Hazard Communication Standard, which warns workers of potential on-the-job hazards, to include combustible dusts.

When dust builds up to dangerous levels in industrial worksites, it can become fuel for fires and explosions. Combustible dust can come from many sources, such as sugar, flour, feed, plastics, wood, rubber, furniture, textiles, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, dyes, coal, and metals, and therefore poses a risk across a number of different industries throughout the United States.