News Archives
August 20, 2008
ACTION ALERT FOR WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
The U.S. Department of Labor has submitted a secret proposal for a new rule that would change the requirements for DOL Agencies Assessment of Occupational Health Risks. These new requirements would dictate the development of health standards that regulate occupational exposure to toxic substances and hazardous chemicals.
In layman terms, this proposed rule would change exposure limits that are now based on lifetime exposure to exposure limits based on worker retention. If you worked at five different facilities in your lifetime with a toxic chemical, for example, your health and safety at work would not be protected. This proposed rule would also allow additional challenges to agency risk assessments.
Numerous letters and statements have been issued by labor organizations, community groups and scientists who are unified in condemning this proposed rule as a “parting gift” from the Bush Administration to industry. In anticipation of just such opposition, news of this proposed rulemaking was not made public until after the deadline for submittal of proposed rules had passed. Senator Edward Kennedy, Chair of the Senate Labor Committee and Representative George Miller, Chair of the House Labor and Education Committee are fighting hard to prevent the DOL from finalizing this rule.
You can find more information on this important development on the web by visiting DefendingScience.org where you will find links for the actual proposed rule as well as a timeline of the measures that labor, congressional representatives and the scientific community are taking in opposition of this rule.
We urge you to contact your elected representatives to take action and defeat this attempt at a fundamentally flawed rule that means to hurt working families. Your action now will ensure our collective victory in the fight to stop erosion of workers’ rights by the Bush Administration.