Dorry's blog

We demand the right to be safe at work,
safe at home and safe in our communities

Many thanks to all who worked so hard to bring together another amazing National Conference on Worker Safety and Health. We’ve been looking over the evaluations from the event, and the feedback we received from participants shows that your hard work paid off at COSHCON19.

“Meeting so many occupational safety and health activists was amazing,” said Yasin Khan, director of public programs at the UC Berkeley Labor Occupational Health Program, one of more than 300 participants at this year’s conference.

On average, 14 workers are killed on the job every day in the U.S., with three to four of those workers being from the construction industry. These stories are often covered in the local or national media, but because most reporters are not familiar with worker safety practices or OSHA rules, the articles often claim the death was the result of a “freak accident.”

National COSH Calls 10-year Spike in Workplace
Deaths “Preventable and Unacceptable” 

Safety advocates say employers must be held accountable
for failure to control on-the-job hazards and workers
must be active and involved in safety programs

PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TO THIS URGENT APPEAL HERE:

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/bring-home-delmer

December 6, 2019

Dear Secretary Scalia:

In a letter to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, National COSH safety and health project consultant Peter Dooley, who is based in Michigan, expressed “serious concerns” about the effectiveness of MIOSHA.  The agency is tasked with enforcing federal and state safety laws to protect workers from preventable workplace injuries, illness and fatalities.

Low Wage Workers, Safety, Labor and Women’s Groups Say  it’s “Our Turn”; Vow to End Sexual Harassment on the Job

Sign the Our Turn “Commitment to Unity and Action.” 

If local and regional newspapers had their say in it, the USDA would rethink its proposed poultry rule, which would drastically increase the inspection line speeds at poultry factories and would replace government inspectors with company-appointed ones.

In the past couple of weeks, the folly of the proposed rule has been opined about in editorial pages in newspapers from the most affected regions.

The hazards associated with grain bin storage and other “post-harvest” activities are well documented, and 2010 saw a record number of grain bin fatalities, with 26 workers perishing in these facilities.

When the American Association for the Advancement of Science comes out against a proposal called the “Sound Science Act,” it’s time to pay attention.

But, you see, the “Sound Science Act,” tucked ever so quietly in the must-pass, House-approved Farm Bill, would essentially bring all pending regulatory actions to a grinding halt – all in the name of science. In short, it would choke public protections through “paralysis by analysis.”