Tell Congress to Force OSHA To Do Their JOB

Ever heard of Combustible Dust? No, ask 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.” Tammy Miser Congressional hearing on combustible dust

If you played the CBS video (sorry about the commercial, can't do anything about it.) you got to see the damage to the factory in those pictures, but those are just pictures, if you watched, you also saw how senseless this loss really is and continues to be because OSHA fails to do its job.

Over at Joe’s Union Review, Joe points out that Congress called OSHA on their failure to protect workers and ended up passing a measure to force OSHA to regulate combustible dust. Here’s the funny thing, 165 Republicans voted AGAINST requiring OSHA to do their job and protect workers::

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.

More from The Gavel

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.

This bill does little more than charge OSHA to do its job and even then, it was opposed by 165 Republicans, some who even tried to gut the legislation using procedural motions.

Chairman Miller: “These workers in this critical industry are entitled to this protection. And the facts on the ground are, the last time we put a standard was for the food and grain industry and it has turned out to be wildly successful. Why is it wildly successful? Because injuries went down 40%. Fatalities went down 60%. Explosions went down 60%. Don’t you think we know enough now to think that these other workers in this industry are entitled to this protection? But OSHA has done nothing. OSHA has done nothing. And if OSHA is not going to act, we must… We ought to oppose this motion to recommit in the name of the workers, in the name of their families, in the name of our nation we owe to them to protect these workers.”

So, now you know about Combustible Dust and Yes, You Can do something about it, you can write and call your Senators to encourage them to vote for this legislation and you can also sign the petition hosted by Change To Win. Go to the Weekly Toll and sign it. You can also find the petition on Joe’s site and it’s also up on mine.

Please, take a minute and sign the petition. Together, maybe we can stop future Imperial Sugar disasters, or at the very least, we can encourage the Senate to vote in favor of this legislation, forcing the talking heads at OSHA to actually do something to protect workers.