Audacious Action for Health and Safety in the Age of Obama

[Guest guest]

Audacious Action for Health and Safety in the Age of Obama

“After the past eight years of OSHA destruction, we finally have a real

opportunity to change things,†Spieler, Dean of Northeastern Law School

and Obama Transition Team Leader on OSHA, told an enthusiastic crowd,

determined to restore workers’ rights to safe jobs.

Organized by MassCOSH’s Health Tech and Legal Committees, the June forum, “

The Audacity of Hope: Workplace Health and Safety in the Age of Obama,â€

brought together workers, health professionals and attorneys to explore

opportunities to influence national health and safety policies.

Spieler highlighted a number of priorities that warranted concerted

advocacy: new OSHA standards, a revamping of OSHA’s Voluntary Protection

Program,

ergonomics, health and safety programs and chemical exposure levels. She

also highlighted enforcement and recordkeeping. She cautioned about the

danger of overestimating what we can accomplish, and expressed concern about

the 17 whistleblower standards that OSHA is responsible for enforcing.

Letitia , Director of the state’s Occupational Health Surveillance

Program at the Department of Public Health, identified opportunities to

address the critical issue of injury underreporting. She welcomedOSHA’s new

emphasis program on recordkeeping, and suggestedother data-collecting

initiatives that supplement the OSHA 300 logs. Electronic medical records,

health

care reform and work-site wellness programs, all hot topics both nationally

and in Massachusetts, provide opportunities for improved record-keeping of

workplace injuries and illnesses. But, added, worker health and

safety will only be incorporated into these discussions if occupational health

advocates are at the table advocating for it.

MassCOSH’s Tolle Graham, Chair of the National Council for Occupational

Safety and Health and Senior Trainer/Organizer for MassCOSH gave a call for

action, encouraging activists to become involved in a COSH-led national

coalition, the Protecting Workers Alliance. The Allian**************Looking for

love this summer? Find it now on AOL Personals.

(http://personals.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntuslove00000003)