Author: Jordan Barab

Slick Moves Keep Trump Republicans in Control of Mine Safety Board  These are troubling times at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. That means troubling and dangerous times for the miners of this country as well. For those who have never heard of it, the mine safety commission is an independent five-member agency that serves as the high court of the Mine Safety and Health Agency. Dave Jamieson at the Huffington Post explains why this small federal agency (76 employees and a $17 million budget) is essential to the safety of this country’s miners. The mine safety commission “reviews…

A Guide to Understanding Workplace Death After 18 years or writing about workplace safety, sometimes it seems like Groundhog Day — the movie, not the weather-predicting rodent. One of the groundhoggiest themes I write about is the news media’s habit of terming workplace incidents “freak accidents.”  I’ve been writing about so-called “freak accidents” since 2003 (See here and here.) What are “freak accidents?” Well, Wiktionary defines a “freak accident” as “an incident, especially one that is harmful, occurring under highly unusual and unlikely circumstances.” if it really is just a freak accident, you don’t really have to do much about it because it’s just one of…

How the Radical Republican Justices Denied Leaves Workers Covid Protection

Workers Who Died from the Infection Remain Invisible to the Government

Weakening Beryllium Protections: How Business Influence Affects Regulatory Process

White House Finalizes OSHA Recordkeeping Rollback: But It’s a Mystery

Agency May Ban the Deadly Compound for Consumers But Let Businesses Continue Exposing Workers

Newly Empowered House Democrats Restore ‘Labor’ to Republicans’ Education and Workforce Panel

Four Candidates Blocked as Senate Nears End of Its Session

Labor Department Wants Teens Operating Dangerous Equipment in Nursing Homes