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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

OSHA Proposes Dust Rule to Protect Worker Health

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Thursday, April 10, 2014   

PHOENIX – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently wrapped up nearly three weeks of hearings on a proposed rule to limit workers' exposure to silica dust.

General construction, masonry and foundries were among the industries examined.

Silica dust is connected to respiratory illnesses and silicosis – an incurable chronic lung disease.

Celeste Monforton, professorial lecturer at George Washington University School of Public Health, testified.

She said safety regulations were first recommended back in 1974, and even this rule will take up to two years before it's put in place.

"So, it's really a national disgrace that we allow exposures to silica dust that are so high," she stresses.

She adds that those most at risk are also most vulnerable: immigrants, people who don't speak English and contract workers.

Industry groups testified against the rule, saying that deaths from silicosis have declined.

Monforton says it's estimated that the rule will save 700 lives a year.

Peter Dooley, health and safety project consultant for the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, testified that workers often don't know that the dust they're inhaling can cause lifelong disabilities.

"It's not like asbestos and lead hazards,” he explains. “This is a hazard that's not well-known."

Dan Neal, executive director of the Equality State Policy Center, testified in favor of the rule, saying history shows that industries won't meet limits on their own, conduct monitoring, offer medical surveillance, or provide training.

"It leads to long-term complications that impair someone's breathing, lung cancer and kidney problems, among many other related diseases,” he says. “It's very important for workers to know that they've got to protect themselves, and that they've got a right to protect themselves."

Exposure limits mean that businesses would have to use methods to reduce dust at worksites, which can be done with water, air, vacuum systems or worker respirators.






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