What a change in oversight hearings when you have a Democratic majority. Pre-2007, all was well in workplace safety - or at least given the dearth of legislative notice you would think that. But now?
It seems as if there is a hearing every week or two, or even less. Just a couple days ago, I reported on a hearing on Under-Reporting Workplace Injuries and Illnesses.
The most recent hearing was Tuesday, June 24, 2008, a Full Committee Hearing of the House Education and Labor committee: "Is OSHA Failing to Adequately Enforce Construction Safety Rules?"
Construction is among the most dangerous and deadly jobs around:
Shoppers strolling through San Diego’s upscale Fashion Valley Shopping Center don’t know, never were told, or even don’t care, but a worker died there when the mall was remodeled a few years ago. Every day, we shop, work, travel at places overlooking the fact that workers died or were injured creating them. Yes, there is blood on our buildings, blood on our streets. And it is still there, much as we would like to wash it away.
In his opening statement at the hearing, Chairman George Miller said:
Over the past few months a number of catastrophic and well publicized construction accidents has highlighted concerns about whether government health and safety agencies are doing enough to ensure safe working conditions at construction sites. In New York, two massive construction crane collapses have killed nine people, including one bystander.
In Las Vegas, over the last 19 months, 12 construction workers have been killed in construction projects on the Strip. According to the Las Vegas Sun, more workers have died in the city over the past 19 months than died during the entire 1990s construction boom.
An investigative series by the Las Vegas Sun detailed the circumstances behind the deaths on the Strip, including the inadequate response from the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
As our witnesses will describe today, construction is one of the most dangerous industries for workers. On average, four construction workers die on the job every day.
But OSHA has fewer than 900 inspectors nationwide. Is it any wonder they cannot do their job, a point discussed by committee chair Rep. Lynn Woolsley, whose open statement you can view below.
At this site you can find links to testimony from all of the witnesses listed below. You can view the entire hearing here.
Some excerpts are now on YouTube, so you can see shorter excerpts.
One is Chairman George Miller's opening statement, which you can read here or view via this link or view directly here.
The second video is testimony by George Cole, who testified about the death of his brother. Cole's brother was killed by a fall that should not have happened, as he explains.
Retired ironworker George Cole testified on behalf of his brother-in-law Harold “Rusty” Billingsley, who died Oct. 5, 2007 after falling 59 feet while working on the CityCenter Project in Las Vegas.
Cole said that Nevada OSHA initially fined the company $13,500 after an investigation determined the accident could have been prevented. But after meeting privately with the company, Nevada OSHA withdrew all citations and fines and stated that the employer bore no responsibility for the incident.
“Rusty’s death was not his fault,” Cole said. “There are two problems here: the unsafe conditions at the workplace, and OSHA’s failure to enforce its own standards as they were written.”
Cole said that OSHA standards required decking every two floors or 30 feet, but a compliance directive eliminated this safety provision.
“When Federal OSHA intends to make policy without going through a formal rulemaking process, this is a disservice to the stakeholders in the steel industry who rely on OSHA to provide constant enforcement of safety regulations,” Cole said.
You can view his testimony on YouTube via this link or directly below:
Here is the list of witnesses, whose testimony is linked to at the hearing website:
Edwin Foulke »
Assistant Secretary of Labor
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
George Cole »
Brother-in-Law of Harold Billingsley,
Victim of a Recent Construction Accident
Las Vegas, Nevada
Robert LiMandri »
Acting Building Commissioner
New York City, New York
Mike Kallmeyer »
Senior Vice President of Construction Services
Denier Electric
Mark Ayers »
President
Building and Construction Trades Department
AFL-CIO
More news coverage on the hearing here.
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