Fatal Georgia Blast Blows Up OSHA Dust Rules: Cindy Skrzycki (some 300 since 1980)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_skrzycki&sid=aeri61rlQjFs

March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Sometimes a safety issue literally blows up in the face of U.S. regulators. That was the case last month when an explosion and fire at an Imperial Sugar Co. refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, likely caused by the ignition of sugar dust, killed 13 workers and left 10 others with serious burns.

The Feb. 7 accident was the latest of some 300 since 1980 that have killed more than 100 workers and injured 800 more. The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety & Health Administration, which is responsible for regulating the hazard, ignored a recommendation to create a single dust-control rule, saying it already has 17 regulations telling employers how to avoid a deadly buildup of dust.

A March 12 oversight hearing on the subject shows how the Democratic-controlled Congress has grown weary of the Bush administration's approach to regulatory policy, which stresses partnerships with industry and voluntary efforts to keep workplaces safe. It was the fifth hearing on OSHA since the beginning of last year.

``I see such an incredible lack of urgency on the part of your agency to protect workers that it is astounding,'' Representative George Miller, a California Democrat who heads the House Education and Labor Committee, told OSHA director Edwin Foulke Jr.

``We believe the agency has taken strong measures to prevent combustible dust hazards,'' Foulke responded. Since the explosion in Georgia, the agency has created a Web page to make it easier to find guidance material on combustible dust, he told the committee.

30,000 Letters

The agency has also sent letters alerting 30,000 employers of their responsibilities to prevent dust buildup. And OSHA is inspecting 300 facilities across the nation for compliance with existing rules, Foulke said.

FULL story at link.