WORKER SAFETY ADVOCATES APPLAUD OSHA APPOINTMENT,

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Contact:

Marcy Goldstein-Gelb (617) 642-1878

WORKER SAFETY ADVOCATES APPLAUD OSHA APPOINTMENT, CALL FOR ORGANIZATION

OVERHAUL

Boston, April 8 -- Today, the Obama administration announced the

nomination of Jordan Barab as Deputy Assistant Secretary for OSHA and Acting

Assistant Secretary, effective Monday, April 13. Marcy Goldstein-Gelb,

executive

director of the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health

(MassCOSH), issued the following statement:

" MassCOSH is extremely pleased with President Obama's appointment of

Jordan Barab to this vital post. You could not find anyone with a better

combination of technical expertise and dedication than Jordan. We believe that

Jordan will have the vision and know-how to oversee a much needed overhaul

of the nation's system for ensuring worker safety, which has failed to

provide adequate protections to America's workforce over the past eight years.

We are looking forward to collaborating with Jordan to ensure workers'

rights to a safe and healthy workplace. "

Jordan Barab comes to the administration from the House Education and

Labor Committee as Senior Labor Policy Advisor for health and safety. Prior to

that he served at the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

He served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Director of Labor for

OSHA from 1998 to 2001, and directed the safety and health program for the

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees from 1982 to

1998. From 2003 to 2007, he was also the creator and author of the

award-winning weblog, Confined Space.

In January, 2009, MassCOSH joined with its national organization, the

National COSH, the American Public Health Association and more than 100 other

organizations in submitting to the Obama administration a platform of

recommendations for fundamental changes to the Department of Labor's oversight

of

worker safety. _Read the National Platform here._

(http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MassCOSH/ec91ffaf53/d6eb7bd208/3d53caba57)

MassCOSH is a private, non-profit coalition of labor unions, health and

technical professionals that promotes safe, healthy working conditions. The

National COSH is a federation of 21 local and statewide " COSH "

groups--Committees/Coalitions on Occupational Safety and Health.

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