Video: George Carlin - They want obedient workers and now they want your social security, RIP old friend

"They don't want a population capable of critical thinking", "they want obedient workers", "and now they want your social security"- George Carlin

This is one of his last performances, thank you George for showing me the light since I was a kid, say hello to Frank Zappa, Bill Hicks, John Lennon, Bob Ross and Jimi Hendrix for me.

WARNING: NSFW- he says fuck a few times

YouTube video page

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Quick post- 60 minutes on combustable dust this Sunday, Tammy Miser from Weekly Toll will appear

“Shawn’s back was towards the furnace when they were picking up their tools and there was a blast. Some say Shawn got up and started walking towards the door and then there was a second, more intense blast. Shawn didn’t die instantly. He laid on building floor while the aluminum dust burnt through his flesh and muscle tissue. The breaths that he took burnt his internal organs, and the blast took his eyesight. Shawn was still conscious and asking for help… And the two things that I can always remember and that never leave are his last words, ‘I’m in a world of hurt,’ and his last breaths.” Tammy Miser Congressional hearing on combustible dust


Please excuse the commercial, I have no control of that

Tammy Miser has created a tremendous amount of awareness to the senseless deaths that occur due to the absence of OSHA standards with regard to explosive dust, the petition on the right hand side of this site is her idea. She runs the blog Weekly Toll and the USMWF.ORG - United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities and she has testified in front of Congress. Word is that Tammy will be appearing this Sunday night on 60 Minutes lead story, "Is Enough Done To Stop Explosive Dust?", the show will feature Carolyn Merritt, former CSB chair, Ed Foulke (OSHA) and Rep. George Miller

At least 13 people might still be alive today if industry and the government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration did more to stop dust explosions in America’s factories, says a former government safety official.

Carolyn Merritt, former head of the government's Chemical Safety Board, talks to 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley about the deadly problem of combustible dust this Sunday, June 8, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

On 4/30/08, the House , with a lot of support by Education and Labor Chairman George Miller and many others, passed the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act, H.R. 5522 by a vote of 247-165

From The Gavel

This bill would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. In early February the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, exploded, killing 13 workers and severely injuring many more. OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which have launched a major investigation into the Imperial Sugar explosion, have concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. OSHA has known about these dangers for years, but has failed to act. Even after the Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, OSHA has never offered any indication that it is planning to issue such rules without being required to do so by law.

Learn more in our current legislation section >>

The Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on March 12 with testimony from Tammy Miser, sister of a victim of a 2003 combustible dust explosion in Huntington, IN:

Take a look at the other stories I have done on this (I know for a fact that OSHA, The Dept. Of Labor, Senate and Congress have read them), a lot of sites and bloggers have helped spread the word and raise awareness. Please forgive me for not mentioning them all right now, I need sleep too.

Tammy Miser is helping workers, I admire her commitment and it shows the power of bloggers to change the world.

You can help, sign the petition on the right.

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The story of Gary Puleio: OSHA accepted this implausible story

Corporations routinely “negotiate” with OSHA to downgrade fines through a process called “abatement"

From the Gary Puleio Blog:

Gary Puleio Family

Gary, Linda, Donald and Gary, Jr.

Gary was killed on the job at a concrete plant on August 15, 2001. He had been employed there only 3 months as a non-union cement truck driver and fell 25 feet to his death, from a cement tower, while shoveling gravel off the hopper to clean it. The company claimed Gary just wandered up there on his own, without wearing any safety equipment, at the end of his driving shift rather than being assigned this dangerous task because he was the “new man”.

OSHA accepted this implausible story and after admitting no wrong doing, the company paid a $6000 fine for REPEAT violations for not posting danger signs at a confined space and not implementing measures to prevent unauthorized entry. This company had multiple serious violations issued only months before Gary was killed which were informally settled with reduced fines.

Corporations routinely “negotiate” with OSHA to downgrade fines through a process called “abatement. ” Aggrieved families of dead workers have no such access to OSHA, face hurdles in obtaining information under the Freedom of Information Act, have their concerns condescendingly dismissed and ultimately are told that no further action can be taken once 6 months have passed since the “alleged violation”. .

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House passes Combustible Dust protections

With work from the labor federations, bloggers and the unfortunate accident at the Imperial Sugar facility, The US House has passed the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act, H.R. 5522 by a vote of 247-165. 165 Republicans voted against American workers.

According to The Gavel ( 4/30/08) :

This bill would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. In early February the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, exploded, killing 13 workers and severely injuring many more. OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which have launched a major investigation into the Imperial Sugar explosion, have concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. OSHA has known about these dangers for years, but has failed to act. Even after the Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, OSHA has never offered any indication that it is planning to issue such rules without being required to do so by law.

Learn more in our current legislation section >>

The Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on March 12 with testimony from Tammy Miser, sister of a victim of a 2003 combustible dust explosion in Huntington, IN:

Tammy Miser: “Shawn’s back was towards the furnace when they were picking up their tools and there was a blast. Some say Shawn got up and started walking towards the door and then there was a second, more intense blast. Shawn didn’t die instantly. He laid on building floor while the aluminum dust burnt through his flesh and muscle tissue. The breaths that he took burnt his internal organs, and the blast took his eyesight. Shawn was still conscious and asking for help… And the two things that I can always remember and that never leave are his last words, ‘I’m in a world of hurt,’ and his last breaths.”

Thank you Tammy, for your hard work to memorialize workers who die on the job. I watched with great adoration your courage to speak in front of congress on behalf of workers.

Shawn did not die in vain. Through your persistence you have helped to change the world for the next worker, for that we are all grateful.

Thanks to Jesse Lee for posting this at The Gavel


To read more about Tammy Miser and her contributions, as well as those of Rep. George Miller, please take a look at the article "Our Memorial Day" by Esther Kaplan published this week at the Nation

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NY: Workers Memorial Day construction mass

From 1010 Wins radio (4/28/08)

Construction Workers Hold Mass for Dead Colleagues. Construction workers killed on the job are being remembered at St. Patrick's Cathedral as New York City sharpens its focus on the dangers of their work.

Construction Workers Hold Mass for Dead Colleagues

NEW YORK (AP) -- Holding hard hats high to salute helmets on empty chairs in St. Patrick's Cathedral, thousands of city construction workers Monday paid tribute to their colleagues killed in a growing number of deadly accidents this year.

1010 WINS AUDIO: Al Jones Reports

Construction workers held an unprecedented Mass to remember fallen workers, joined by the families of victims in a March crane collapse and several other high-profile accidents in the city. Many came straight from construction sites in work boots and jeans after several contractors closed down jobs early.

Bells rang as labor officials recited the names of 26 union and nonunion laborers who died in the city in the past year. The dead include six of seven victims of the March 15 crane collapse, a window washer who fell off a Manhattan skyscraper and a man who plunged 40 stories to his death off a Donald Trump tower.

``They didn't die in vain,'' said Father Brian Jordan, who served as a chaplain at ground zero. ``They upheld the dignity of human labor.''

The ceremony was on Workers Memorial Day, which is held annually to commemorate the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act. But city construction workers have not held a Mass this large before and many said the crane collapse called greater attention to the high risks of their industry.

``I went to three funerals in a week'' after the collapse, said Ralph DiDonato, a senior superintendent at Bovis Lend Lease. ``Construction workers are the tightest crew when it comes for caring for people.''

The number of deaths cited at the service does not match the city Buildings Department, which also lists non-construction worker deaths and has said fewer people have died: 13 this year, 12 last year.

Organizers couldn't immediately explain the discrepancy, although federal agencies compile different data for construction-related deaths, sometimes using criteria that include a wider range of projects.

The city's buildings commissioner resigned last week, days after disclosing at a hearing that the building under construction before the crane collapse had improperly received construction permits. The city's acting commissioner, who attended Monday's service, ordered a review of high-risk construction practices, including crane and concrete pouring operations.

Several times the workers raised their hats to nine empty chairs, each with a different colored hard hat and roses or daffodils on the seats. Eight referred to the union construction workers who lost their lives in the past year, while the ninth represented the 18 who died in nonunion jobs, Jordan said.

The workers held a moment of silence after OSHA officials Richard Mendelson and Janet Kenny finished reading the names. Edward Malloy, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council, said prayers are always said on sites when they learn a worker has died.

No one will forget the fallen workers, Malloy said, because ``the legacy of all construction workers ... is the skyline of New York.'

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Please sign the Combustible Dust Petition

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From the pages of USMWF.ORG - United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities, a petition now being sponsored by the Change to Win Federation, please sign it, end the massacre that is the lackadaisical OSHA voluntary standard. Enough is enough, please sign the petition.

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H.R. 5522: Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008>>> You can view the entire hearing here: Click here to watch archived hearing webcast » It is long about a little over 2 hours but if your really interested in how the system works, what some of our congress men think about OSHA as of lately or combustible dust it is a must see. You can also see individual parts here

<<<Give Us Combustible Dust Standards Between 1980 and 2005, 119 workers were killed and more than 700 injured in combustible dust explosions. These explosions were preventable -- but even though the U.S. Chemical Safety Board recommended in 2006 that regulations needed to be put in place to protect workers from death or injury from combustible dust accidents, OSHA chose instead to maintain its program of voluntary corporate compliance. But as Former CSB Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt put it, "the problem with voluntary standards is not everyone volunteers." This petition calls on OSHA and the Department of Labor to stop relying on voluntary compliance and issue a general industry standard for preventing combustible dust accidents in the workplace. Tell me more

To read more about the plight to change the way OSHA deals with industries that explosive dust is a factor, and the multi-tiered campaigning by labor and social advocacy groups who would like to see this changed, please check out Imperial Sugar explosion death toll rises to 13, OSHA backs lack of standard before Congress, Ga. creates own standard, and we need more signatures from 3/16/08

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NY: Workers Memorial Day, construction unions and construction managment to stand together in Construction Workers Memorial Mass at St. Pats

From The planning Committee for the Construction Workers’ Memorial Day Mass:

Dear friends of the BCTC and the BTEA,

Greetings, April 28 is Workers’ Memorial Day and in light of the terrible tragedy of March 15 in the East Side of Manhattan, members both from construction worker unions and construction company management have come together to sponsor a special Construction Workers’ Memorial Mass on that same day. The Mass will begin sharply at 2 p.m. on Monday, April 28th in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st.

All construction workers, union members and construction management personnel are most welcome to attend. Not only will we solemnly remember the six construction workers who were called home to God on March 15 but also the other Workers who died on the worksite since last year’s April Workers’ Memorial Day.


We respectfully request that all construction workers who are attending the Mass as a Sign of solidarity among construction workers in New York City, be by St Patrick’s Cathedral by no later than 1:30 p.m. We will have the New York Police Department coordinate a procession route on 5th Avenue and adjoining streets in which participating construction workers WEARING HARDHATS will process into St. Patrick’s Cathedral where you will be seated by the ushers.


Please bring your hardhats for this procession. You will take them off after the opening prayer! Management is encouraged to join in the procession wearing hardhats as well. Those not wearing hardhats should not process but just enter through the side doors of the church.

HARDHATS ARE MANDATORY!

All family members of our deceased brethren will be up in the front of the church previously seated. All family members should be in the Cathedral by no later than 1:45 p.m. Please identify yourselves to both the ushers and the union representatives who will greet you and escort you to the front of the church of your assigned seating.

The Memorial Mass will include appropriate music performed by the St. Patrick’s Cathedral Music Ministry, readings and the general intercessions to be read by family members. There will be a special ritual of remembrance in which family members, select union officials and management officials will participate to honor our loved ones. Along with the homily, there will be some brief reflections about the solemnity of Workers’ Memorial Day. The Memorial Mass should conclude between 3:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Besides the deceased, we will also remember those injured on the worksite this past year.

This Memorial Mass will also serves as a spiritual sign of solidarity among construction workers in our city. This noble profession of construction work poses greater risks than the NYPD or FDNY. Construction workers are more liable to death and injury than most other professions in this great city, THEREFORE, WE RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THAT ALL UNION CONSTRUCTION WORKERS MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO BE PRESENT AND PRAY FOR OUR CO-WORKERS AND SHOW SOLIDARITY!

Thank you ---The planning Committee for the Construction Workers’ Memorial Day Mass.

The committee has also made preparations for St. Pats' to waiver the no hat ruling in the church, through dispensation, I have been trying to get this e-mail forwarded to me, I finally found it on Local 157 Blogspot, thanks John

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Another NYC construction death

From The New York Times (4/14/08):

Worker Dies in Fall After Nylon Strap Fails
By Thomas J. Lueck

Patricia J. Lancaster, the commissioner of buildings, right, entered the Laurel condominium complex, where a worker fell from the 23th floor on Monday morning. (Photo: David Goldman for the New York Times)

Updated, 3:32 p.m. | A worker who was installing windows in a condominium tower under construction at 400 East 67th Street, near First Avenue, fell to his death around 10:30 a.m. today after a nylon safety strap failed, officials said. The man — who was later identified as Kevin Kelly, 25, of Bayside, Queens — fell from the 21st floor to the 14th floor, but it was not clear what broke his fall, the authorities said. No one else was injured, and it was not clear what caused the fall.

Patricia J. Lancaster, the commissioner of buildings, told reporters at the scene that the worker had been installing windows on the 21st floor and fell when a piece of required safety equipment failed. She said an initial investigation indicated the the man’s D-ring — part of his safety harness that is attached to a hook embedded in the building’s concrete — snapped or somehow gave way.

Ms. Lancaster, who was still on the scene shortly before 1 p.m., said it was unclear who was at fault. “We will be holding the individuals responsible for this terrible tragedy accountable,” she said.

“We are very focused on safety,” Ms. Lancaster said. “Construction companies, owners, architects and engineers have to obey the law.”

She said a second worker, who apparently had witnessed the accident but was not directly involved, complained of chest pains and was taken to a hospital for observation. She declined to identify that man, or the one who fell to his death.

Later, the Buildings Department issued this statement from Ms. Lancaster, which offered a revised account of what happened:

Construction site and worker safety begins with proper site safety measures. A tragedy happened here today. It appears the nylon safety strap connecting the worker to the building failed. As part of our investigation, our team is now auditing the method the crews used to install the safety straps throughout the building. We will pursue the toughest enforcement to the full extent of the law. Development cannot be at the expense of the workers building our City. The Buildings Department has imposed a full stop work order on the site. A full safety inspection is under way, and Buildings forensic engineers are investigating the incident.

The worker was employed by New York Window, a subcontractor retained by the general contractor, Hunter Roberts Construction Group, to install window panels. Preliminary reports indicate the accident occurred on the northeast corner of the building’s 23rd floor, and that the worker fell to a 14th-floor balcony. At this time, it appears a failure of the safety strap connecting the worker to the concrete ceiling played a role in the incident.

The building was designed by the architects Costas Kondylis & Partners and is in the process of receiving a LEED certification, awarded by the United States Green Building Council, for environmentally sustainable construction.

The construction manager is the Hunter Roberts Construction Group, a large construction company that is at work on several projects in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Officials of Hunter Roberts did not immediately return a phone request for comment. The company’s Web site describes The Laurel as luxury condominium, scheduled for completion next January, with 129 apartments, an indoor pool, 14,000 square feet of retail and office space and two levels of underground parking.

The developer is the Alexico Group, based in Manhattan. Officials of Alexico did not return a phone request for comment.
Sewell Chan contributed reporting.

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The 200th. signature on the petition to change OSHA's useless explosive dust rules is none other than an OSHA employee.

#200 "As an OSHA employee, I was ashamed and deeply offended by my Agencies response at Rep Miller's Hearings. Like Rep. Miller said "I again see no sense of urgency from OSHA". The OSHA Watchdog has acted like a Lapdog again." - Bob Whitmore , Maryland

This is the petition that many web activists have supported, by linking and adding to their sites. It was created in the wake of the Imperial Sugar explosion, which now has a death toll of 13, there are still many victims in critical and severe condition. The petition in a nutshell asks OSHA to adopt a "Standard" for explosive dust, instead of the current "Voluntary" method. If there was a OSHA "Standard" in effect and it was adhered to, there most likely wouldn't be a need for this petition.

Please take a moment of you life to read my last article from March 16th. on how desperately this is needed and how OSHA is defending the current rule:
Imperial Sugar explosion death toll rises to 13, OSHA backs lack of standard before Congress, Ga. creates own standard, and we need more signatures

Once you have read the stories, click the pictures below, I'm sure your name will wind up on the list, you can even sign anonymously.

In Solidarity with the American worker,
Joe

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Imperial Sugar explosion death toll rises to 13, OSHA backs lack of standard before Congress, Ga. creates own standard, and we need more signatures

Regina Habersham , Georgia
"please do something my only child was killed please change the laws"- signature from petition

The Petition

OSHA has been twiddling it's thumbs about this matter for over a month, they have even read my site with all the stories urging readers to sign the petition

The petition which was started a few days after the Imperial Sugar, formerly Dixie Crystal, Refinery explosion. It was created by Tammy from the Weekly Toll Blog (the sister site of the USMWF-United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities)

Do something, you laxidasical*...

Now it has been over a month since it has been created and has been at the top of my site and while I have help to spread the petition to other sites and have gotten quite a few visitors here, there are only a small few who are taking the minute or 2 to sign it.

It seems that most of you do not really care to honor those who died and make sure that this doesn't happen again on American soil. Take a stand with Regina Habersham, who lost her only child to this blatant neglect of having a STANDARD RULE!

The petition is simple, it states that the undersigned want OSHA to adopt RULES on explosive dust, not just recommendations that companies can choose to abide by on a voluntary basis. From the petition:

We want OSHA to issue comprehensive combustible dust standards and we fully back the Committee on Education and Labor in their request to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao for answers and action based on the CBS investigations and recommendations.

The Big Labor Federations Agree "Something must be done"

On March 4th Joe's Union Review reported in the article "2 out of 2 giant labor federations agree, OSHA must adopt explosive dust standard, you can help, please sign the petition.":

All labor, both the AFL-CIO and Change To Win have been writing and acting to assure that OSHA will enact a STANDARD that all companies must follow in regards to explosive dust.

In the wake of the Imperial Sugar (formerly Dixie Crystal) dust explosion which killed 12 and has 11 more in critical condition. There has been a lot of awakening to the fact that OSHA can only recommend the strategy to defend against explosions in plants where there is a high possibility of an explosion due to combustible dust particles.

The Weekly Toll blog, which is the sister site of the USMWF- United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities, started a petition 2 days after the explosion, that states:

We want OSHA to issue comprehensive combustible dust standards and we fully back the Committee on Education and Labor in their request to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao for answers and action based on the CBS investigations and recommendations.

That petition can be found here also, at the top left hand side. It can also be found on the Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires blog, which was created by Watermon, who is the same man who created the Combustible dust accident Google map and is a contributer of the OSHA Underground blog.

A byproduct is that this is the first case in which I have noticed both labor federations as a united front. Both blogs are fighting for this. Both are spreading awareness with some of their top writers. While it would be nice if they mentioned Weekly Toll and the petition, I guess we'll take what we can get.

The E-Action I wish I knew about

On March 12th. of 2008, American Rights at Work, through their sister-site, ShameOnElaine.org, which highlights the misdeeds of Secretary Of Labor Elaine Chao, was asking us to send an E-Mail to our Congressmen (CC to Elaine herself) which would urge them to support H.R.5522 Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008, which would require the Secretary of Labor to issue interim and final occupational safety and health standards regarding worker exposure to combustible dust, and for other purposes which can be read about above.

OSHA, what a waste of our hard earned

OSHA has become an impudent, understaffed and underfunded Governmental agency which is supposed to be there before an accident happens, but which according to various sources is so understaffed that it would take 108 years, as of 2005 data*, to inspect every workplace in the United States just once and that doesn't take into the the budget cuts our wonderful administration has imposed on the agency since '05, $1 million was just taken away from the agency with the passage of the omnibus bill.

OSHA defends current standard, or lack thereof

OSHA sat through the hearing defending the current voluntary methods that are on the books already. According to Occupational Hazzards (3/13), during the hearing in front of Congress on the 12th., OSHA Administrator Edwin Foulke Jr. stated:

the agency would consider rulemaking on combustible dust a “strong option,” but only if its investigation of the Feb. 7 Imperial Sugar refinery explosion and an inspection of existing standards – identified in OSHA's National Emphasis Program (NEP) – reveal that the standards don't adequately mitigate the potential for the hazards associated with combustible dust.

“We have 17 different standards that are applicable to combustible dust,” Foulke told members of the House Education and Labor Committee, noting that existing standards on ventilation and factory housekeeping can be used to address combustible dust hazards. “After the NEP has been in effect and we have conducted enough inspections we will evaluate and review the inspection data to determine if the standards we currently have are adequate to address combustible dust hazards.”

William Wright, board member and interim executive of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), argued that the Imperial Sugar refinery explosion was the deadliest industrial explosion in the United States since 1980 – killing 12 worker and critically injuring 11 others, and therefore, confirms the immediate need for OSHA to issue a mandatory measure for employers.

Not only that, but he affirmed that a regulatory standard would make employers highly aware of the engineering and safety practices needed to prevent dust explosions.

However, the OSHA chief remained adamant that a new standard may not be the solution to prevent more tragedies. He insisted that the agency's multi-pronged approach, which includes enforcement of standards, combined with education for employers and employees, should be effective enough to fight combustible dust hazards.

“The effectiveness of a standard always depends on how well employers implement the requirements, and many tragic accidents in the last decade could have been avoided or minimized if employers had complied with existing OSHA standards,” Foulke said.

Are you kidding me? For one second do we, the American public buy the idea that what is the rule is good enough? Rep. G.Miller (D-Ca.) had strong words for Mr.Foulke, which you can read in full at the Occupational Hazard story entitled "OSHA Not Issuing Combustible Dust Standard Anytime Soon" (3/13)

While OSHA fiddles, Ga. death toll rises to 13

Here's OSHA Underground, in their story entitled "While OSHA Fiddles..." (3/14):

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Another burn patient has died of injuries suffered in an explosion at a Georgia sugar refinery, bringing the death toll to 13.

Six patients remain in critical condition a little more than a month after the blast at the Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth. Four are in serious condition.

Investigators have said the explosion was fueled by airborne sugar dust at the refinery, near Savannah. They have not yet determined what ignited it.

Standards an uphill battle, let's do it together

Unfortunately this is an uphill battle, the only way to enforce change is to let them know you are knowledgeable and willing to put your name to it, signing the petition is the first step, all the other sites that are taking action keeping each other informed is another, American Rights at Work should have sent myself, the AFL-CIO, WIN Radio, CTW, OSHA Underground and all other interested parties an E-Mail before the 12th. regarding the E-Mail to congress, It could have gotten a lot more response. I have a lot of Labor links on the left hand side of my site, I'm sure more than one would have ran a story. So in the future, lets keep one another posted of these events.

Georgia leading by example

There was however one step in the right direction which has come in this mess, the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John W. Oxendine issued new regulations for industries in the state of Georgia that produce inflammable dust. According to Occupational Hazards story "Georgia Issues Combustible Dust Regulations" (3/13)

“These regulations will set new standards for safety in industries that produce flammable dust in their manufacturing processes,” Oxendine said.

He said the new rules will require all industries in Georgia that produce combustible dust to draw up emergency plans, practice implementing the plans and train employees in evacuation techniques.

At Oxendine’s request, the International Fire Code Committee has approved for their final action hearings, requirements for factory fire emergency evacuation procedures and drills for the 2009 edition of the International Fire Code.

All manufacturers in Georgia will be required to have a designated safety officer. Monthly reporting will ensure that emergency plans are in place and drills are conducted, according to the rule. Additionally, the rule will require facilities making, processing or handling combustible particulate solids that create combustible dust to comply with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70E-2004, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, as well as numerous other NFPA standards.

“The explosion and fire at the Imperial Sugar plant was the most devastating loss of life in Georgia in 16 years,” Oxendine said. “I want to make sure this type of accident never happens again.”

Rep. John Barrow (D-GA.) spoke to the Congressional hearing on HR 5222, he stated "Georgia isn't waiting," and continued “[Oxendine] has exercised his authority under Georgia law to adopt the voluntary standards promulgated by the people who know best how to prevent these disasters from happening – the NFPA – and made them mandatory in Georgia.

Barrow further noted “We now have to worry about Americans losing their jobs to other Americans, just because they happen to live in states where they haven't learned the lessons of Imperial Sugar yet,” he said. “Unsafe competition is unfair competition.”

Get E-Active! It's easy.

This is an uphill fight, Get E-Active, sign the petition, left hand top of this site or any of the buttons below:

*laxidasical - (Slang) A state of sloth and apathy. An attitude of laziness. To be slack.
Example in use (1)"He lay in the hammock in a laxidasical manner, while his house fell down around him for want of maintenance" (2)"She laxidaically handed in her project assignment having done the least amount of research she could get away with."
*NOTE: Not sure the exact figures, but I know it's somewhere around that, may have been 137 years, or 108 inspectors in NYS, but I'm close. Yeah of course I'm right, according to The Hill in a 2005 article entitled To make American workers safer, strengthen OSHA

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