White House releases OSHA rule on silica, after two-year delay
After two and a half years of White — worse even than the “dismal” record
House obstruction, the Occupational of the previous Bush administration.
“Since 2011, virtually every worker
Safety and Health Administration
protection rule that
(OSHA) announced on Aug.
has been submitted
23 a proposal to protect
for OIRA review
workers from exposure to sil-
has been delayed,”
ica dust. More than 2 million
Seminario said,
workers are exposed to silica
adding that the sil-
dust — anyone who cuts,
ica rule delay is a
saws, drills or crushes con-
case in point. “Fail-
crete, brick, or stone prod-
ure to regulate silica
ucts, or uses sand. Bricklay-
has allowed uncon-
ers, cement masons, road
trolled exposures
crew and shipyard workers,
and more unneces-
sandblasters, and glass and
sary disease and
foundry workers are among
death.”
those at greatest risk. Inhaled
Three weeks af-
over time, microscopic silica
ter the Senate hear-
particles cause lung diseases
ing, OSHA an-
like silicosis, pulmonary tu-
nounced its “draft
berculosis, and lung cancer.
proposed rule” is
OSHA’s rule on silica
hasn’t changed since 1972. It Frances Perkins was moving forward in
sets an exposure limit, but secretary of Labor in the process, and is
doesn’t require employers to 1938 when the federal now an official
test for it. Technologies and government first pub- “proposed rule.”
If OSHA’s esti-
practices have developed to lished recommendations
protect workers, but OSHA for how to avoid silicosis, mate is correct —
doesn’t require employers to an irreversible and some- that the proposed
use them.
times fatal occupational rule would prevent
In 2009, the Obama Ad- lung disease caused by 1,600 new cases of
ministration declared that chronic inhalation of tiny silicosis and save
protecting workers from sil- sand particles. But 43 nearly 700 lives a
ica inhalation was one of its years after Congress year — then the ad-
regulatory priorities. OSHA passed the Occupational ministration’s delay
worked on a proposal to Safety and Health Act, will have meant
lower the allowable limit and employers aren’t required painful and pre-
require certain employers to to take protective meas- ventable deaths for
several thousand
test air samples and give ures.
workers.
workers health screenings,
And it could still be years before the
safety trainings, and tools — using wa-
ter to suppress dust, ventilation to cap- rule takes effect. First the proposed rule
ture it, or personal protective equipment must be published in the Federal Regis-
to prevent inhalation. OSHA submitted ter (which had not yet happened as of
this “draft proposed silica standard” for press time). Next OSHA accepts public
review by the White House Office of In- comments for 90 days. Then it holds
formation and Regulatory Analysis public hearings on it, scheduled to begin
(OIRA) on Feb. 14, 2011. Under an ex- March 4, 2014. Once public hearings
ecutive order, OIRA is supposed to de- conclude, members of the public can
termine whether OSHA assessed the submit additional post-hearing com-
costs and benefits of available alterna-
tives. The review was supposed to take
90 days. Two and a half years went by,
and the rule remained in limbo while
OIRA held closed-door meetings with
industry groups opposed to regulation.
The delay outraged labor leaders and
some members of Congress, who wrote
letters and tried to shame the adminis-
tration with public editorials. On Aug.
1, 2013, Connecticut Democrat Richard
Blumenthal held a Senate hearing enti-
tled “Justice Delayed: The Human Cost
of Regulatory Paralysis.” AFL-CIO
Safety and Health Director Peg Semi-
nario told senators at the hearing that
White House delay of occupational
safety regulations in the Obama Ad-
ministration has been the worst she’s
seen in her more than three decades of
work on safety and health regulations
ments. Then the agency will make a de-
termination whether to proceed with the
final rule.
“We urge the Obama administration
to continue moving forward with the
public rule-making process without de-
lay,” said AFL-CIO president Richard
Trumka in a press statement. “The final
silica rule should be issued as fast as hu-
manly possible, to protect the health
and lives of American workers.”
THANK YOU!
The Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council, on behalf of its
affiliates and their members, wish to say “Thank You” to FERGUSON WELLMAN
CAPITAL MANAGEMENT and QUEST INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. for spon-
soring our annual $1,000 college scholarship program. This year’s winners are
Alexander Peterson and Laura Wagner. Peterson is the son of Dennis Peterson,
a member of Cement Masons Local 555, and Wagner is the daughter of Daniel
Wagner, a member of Plumbers and Fitters Local 290.
OregOn State Building and
COnStruCtiOn tradeS COunCil
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Mesothelioma has a long
latency period. Asbestos
exposures from 40 or 50
years ago can cause cancer.
A detailed work history is
necessary to reconstruct
exposure history on the job.
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PAGE 4
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
SEPTEMBER 6, 2013