In the 110th Congress, the Committee on Education and Labor will seek to improve workplace safety. A safe workplace is a basic necessity for hard-working Americans.

House Passes Legislation to Protect Food Flavoring Workers from Severe Lung Disease

By a vote of 260 to 154, the U.S. House of Representatives today approved legislation intended to prevent workers in food processing plants from getting a debilitating, irreversible lung disease that has already sickened and killed a number of workers nationwide.
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Chairman Miller Launches Map of Many Workplace Fatalities

On August 9, the U.S. Labor Department reported that 5,703 workers died in workplace accidents in 2006. Today, August 31, Chairman George Miller launched an online map of worker fatalities that he hopes will remind Americans of the urgent need for increased efforts to eliminate unsafe conditions on the job. The map relies on published news reports in 2007 to show worker fatalities nationwide and represents roughly 10 percent of the total number of on-the-job fatalities so far this year.
Click Here to View Map »

Democrats Introduce "Protecting America's Workers Act"

U.S. Reps. Lynn Woolsey and Phil Hare and Sens. Edward Kennedy and Patty Murray introduced legislation to cut down on the number of American workers killed or injured on the job each year. More »
 

Committee Hears Testimony on BP-Texas City Disaster

In March 2005, 15 workers were killed and 180 others were injured in an explosion at BP's Texas City, TX facility. The U.S.Chemical Safety Board (CSB) recently released a final investigative report blaming BP for cost-cutting that led to malfunctioning equipment and overworked and undertrained employees, and OSHA for failing in its investigative responsibilities. On Thursday, March 22, 2007, the full Committee heard testimony examining what went wrong at BP and OSHA with the goal of preventing future disasters. More on the hearing »

“The Chemical Safety Board report paints an extremely troubling picture of gross negligence on the part of BP and OSHA. ...We can’t bring back the 15 men and women who died in the Texas City explosion, but in their honor, we can and must take steps to prevent future tragedies,” Chairman Miller said.

More about the CSB report »

BP U.S. Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel Report »

Related news articles:

Oversight of Refineries is Lax, Report Says »
The Washington Post, 3/21/07

Probe of BP Plant Blast Cites Oversight »
Kiplinger (Associated Press), 3/21/07

Special Report: Texas City Explosion »
Houston Chronicle

 

Mine Safety

Nothing illustrates the devastating effect weakened workforce protections can have like the deaths of the Sago and Aracoma Alma miners in early 2006. From 2001-2005, the Bush administration delayed, weakened or withdrew at least 18 mine safety regulations, and placed former mining executives in charge of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. More on mine safety »