Outgoing US president George Bush is winding up his time at top with a move that typifies his less-than-exemplary approach to the health and safety of his country’s workforce.
Before ‘Dubya’ departs the White House his Labor Department is trying to complete and introduce a new rule that will make it harder to regulate hazardous substances and so lengthen the process for developing standards to protect workers’ health. The rule has strong support from business groups but was strenuously opposed by president-elect, Barack Obama.
A report in Saturday’s New York Times (click here) reveals that, under the proposal, the Labor Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA — the US equivalent to the HSE), would have to publish “advance notice of proposed rule-making,” soliciting public comment on studies, scientific information and data to be used in drafting a new rule.
The Bush administration and business groups said the rule would codify “best practices”, ensuring that health standards were based on the best available data and scientific information.
According to the NYT report, US public health officials and unions have voiced their concerns that the rule would delay needed protections for workers, resulting in additional deaths and illnesses.
The report goes on to say that the proposal is one of about 20 highly contentious rules the Bush administration is planning to issue in its final weeks. The new president can revoke or alter final regulations put in place by his predecessor, but his new administration must solicit public comment and supply “a reasoned analysis” for such changes, as if it were issuing a new rule.
In another hard-hitting report on America’s workplace health and safety system, Sunday’s Las Vegas Sun urged lawmakers to “get past politics and take occupational health and safety seriously”.
The paper, appalled by the fact there were 12 construction-worker deaths on projects along the city’s famous ‘Strip’ in just 19 months, carried out a large-scale investigation over several months. The result is a five-part series of editorials that explores the problems with, and potential fixes for, the US worker safety system. The series started in yesterday’s edition and continues throughout this week — click here to find out more.
