# 2450
On Thursday the Charlotte Observer carried this story, regarding the imminent departure of Edwin Foulke, Jr. as the head of OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration).
OSHA chief's resignation just days away
By Kerry Hall
khall@charlotteobserver.comPosted: Thursday, Nov. 06, 2008
The head of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Edwin Foulke Jr., is resigning effective Sunday.
A former S.C. attorney who has served as Assistant Secretary of Labor since April 2006, Foulke will join an Atlanta law firm, according to an internal OSHA e-mail forwarded to the Observer by a current agency official.
<snip>
Foulke's resignation has been rumored for months among safety and health professionals. Resignations among political appointees are common when a new administration is elected.
With the election of a new president we enter a period of transition, where agency heads step down and new appointees are selected to take over.
Often when this happens, policy changes are made as well.
While we don't know who will become the new head of OSHA under an Obama presidency, we do know that Democrats in congress have been vocal about their concerns over how the agency has been run in recent years.
This excerpt comes from the above mentioned article.
Foulke and OSHA had come under increasing scrutiny this year from the U.S. House and Senate labor committees.
Democrats have criticized Foulke as soft on enforcement and slow to enact regulations. Union leaders say OSHA hasn't done enough to protect workers from injuries associated with repetitive motion, and they criticize the agency's refusal to issue emergency standards covering pandemic flu preparedness and exposure to diacetyl, a butter-flavoring chemical used in microwave popcorn. Diacetyl has been linked to lung disease in food workers.
OHSA has released a series of `guidance documents' designed to help employers create a safer work environment during a pandemic.
These include:
-
Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic (PDF - 313 KB) (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
-
Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Guidance for Healthcare Workers and Healthcare Employers (PDF - 405 KB) (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
- Proposed Guidance on Stockpiling of Respirators and Facemasks in Occupational Settings (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
Notice that the word `Guidance' appears in each title. These are recommendations, not regulations. There is currently no legal requirement that employers take any of these recommended safety steps.
However . . .
There is an expectation by employees that their employers will provide them a safe workplace. In fact, OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) created the following statement of worker's rights nearly 40 years ago.
WORKER RIGHTS UNDER THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT OF 1970
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO A SAFE WORKPLACE. OSHA REQUIRES EMPLOYERS TO PROVIDE A WORKPLACE THAT IS FREE OF SERIOUS RECOGNIZED HAZARDS AND IN COMPLIANCE WITH OSHA STANDARDS.
The question becomes, is the pandemic threat a `serious recognized hazard'?
And if so, what steps (if any) should employers be required to take now to protect their employees from a potential pandemic?
It isn't an easy question.
Regulations cost money. To implement, and to enforce. And during tough economic times, they could be viewed as being particularly onerous and a drag on the economy.
As a former small business owner myself, I understand just how difficult it would be for many companies to comply with a set of new and expensive regulations.
Without the force of law, however, few companies are likely to follow the `guidance' from OSHA on their own.
Admittedly, if we knew when the next pandemic would arrive, and how bad it was going to be, these decisions would be easy to make.
But even absent that knowledge, the next head of OSHA will have to make the difficult decision on how best to proceed.
