In a stinging rebuke to the Environmental Protection Agency, a federal court has called EPA’s delay in implementing the Obama administration’s chemical disaster rule “arbitrary and capricious” and told the agency to implement the rule. EPA had argued that delaying the rule would reduce industry confusion while it figured out whether it wanted to modify …
Court Orders EPA To Implement Chemical Plant Safety Rule Read More »
Too many workers are dying in the states of Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, according to OSHA Region VII, and employers need to do something about it. An OSHA alert has gone out from the region, “seeking to stem a recent increase in workplace fatalities in Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.” The press release cites “an increase in fatalities …
OSHA Speaks to Employers, Ignores Workers, About Deaths in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska Read More »
You should expect your employer to establish a strong safety culture that results in an injury-free, healthy, non-hostile workplace. Unfortunately, OSHA can only do so much to establish what “safe and healthy” means, or to enforce those protocols. Many people, like those at Public Citizen, recognize that “government protection of workers is far from adequate.” …
Workplace Safety: Expect Excellence From Your Employer Read More »
I hope you’re all doing something to commemorate Workers Memorial Day — even if your own personal moment of silence and commitment to do more this coming year to ensure that workers come home safe and healthy at the end of the workday. Last night I was interviewed on Houston’s KPFT “Voices at Work” radio …
My Workers Memorial Day: Fight for Your Union, Fight for Your Lives Read More »
One sign that anti-OSHA conservatives are getting nervous about articles (and television appearances) highlighting the declining number of OSHA inspectors are articles questioning whether government plays a useful role in protecting workers. In this case, the Reason Foundation, which “advances a free society by developing, applying, and promoting libertarian principles, including individual liberty, free markets, and the rule of …
America’s bad bosses can’t help but get the message from the Trump administration: your workers’ safety is not a priority. In the months after President Donald Trump took office, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration lost 40 inspectors through attrition and made no new hires to fill the vacancies as of Oct. 2, according to data …
Workers’ lives take a back seat under Donald Trump Read More »
Over the past month, two workers have been killed at companies participating in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Programs: Nucor Steel in Decatur, Alabama where Melvin Gant Jr. fell into a vat of the waste products of finished rolled steel, and a contractor at Valero Oil Refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, Ezequiel Guzman Orozco, who died after allegedly falling …
The Labor Day parades are over. The bands have packed up. The muscular speeches celebrating workers are finished. The trash is getting collected from parks across the country. And now conservative politicians from Trump on down will revive their systematic efforts to weaken unions and undermine workers. Trump – despite all the populist bunting that …
When the Parades Are Over, Who Stands With Unions? Read More »
Every 12 days, a member of my union, the United Steelworkers (USW), or one of their non-union co-workers, is killed on the job. Every 12 days. And it’s been that way for years. These are horrible deaths. Workers are crushed by massive machinery. They drown in vats of chemicals. They’re poisoned by toxic gas, burned …
The Price for Killing Workers Must be Prison for CEOs Read More »
Donald Trump’s Labor Department is sending employers a message that it’s open season on worker safety—by cutting off public messages about enforcement of worker safety rules. What Fair Warning noticed 10 days ago is still going on today: In a sharp break with the past, the department has stopped publicizing fines against companies. As of Monday, seven weeks after …
Trump Labor Department has a message to employers: Workplace safety? Not a priority. Read More »
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
