Last-Minute Secret Labor Department Proposal Will Harm Workers, Witnesses Say

By Betsy Miller Kittredge on 09-17-2008, 02:44 PM in

A last-minute Department of Labor proposal could undermine future health and safety protections for American workers, witnesses told the Workforce Protections Subcommittee today. The Washington Post recently reported that the proposal was developed by political appointees in secret with little consultation with career agency health and safety experts. The proposal only gives 30 days for comment and provides for no public hearings. Critics say that the Department of Labor proposal would add additional layers of red tape to an already slow regulatory process, even for those initiatives being considered. The Bush administration has only issued one health-related standard over the past eight years, which it was forced to complete under a court-ordered deadline.

In July, Chairman George Miller proposed legislation (H.R. 6660) to forbid the Department of Labor from issuing, administering or enforcing the department’s proposal.

“I am troubled by the Department of Labor’s attempt to rush through this rule without a full consideration of its effect on the health and safety of American workers. This proposed rule has without explanation leapfrogged ahead of many other worker protection standards that OSHA should have been working on for the last 8 years.” -- Subcommittee Chair Lynn Woolsey

“Our nation’s system for protecting workers from harmful substances that cause injuries, illnesses, and deaths is paralyzed. Thousands of workers are exposed every day to chemical compounds and physical hazards that are known to be harmful, yet these exposures are permitted by outdated or non-existent OSHA and MSHA standards.” -- Dr. Celeste Monforton, a lecturer at the department of environmental and occupational health at The George Washington University

“The proposed risk assessment rule has been developed in secret by political appointees…with little involvement by OSHA and MSHA and with no public notice prior to its publication. The department is trying to rush the proposal through and is depriving the public of an opportunity to meaningfully participate in this rulemaking process.” -- Peg Seminario, director of safety and health at the AFL-CIO