Gary Puleio: John Henshaw OSHA Director

Gary Puleio

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”. .

Saturday, July 7, 2007

John Henshaw OSHA Director

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
11/04/2001

I wonder how he can “sleep at night”?

New OSHA head says he's no hack

The new head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration promised union safety advocates meeting in Pittsburgh that he will work to reduce workplace injuries and fatalities despite politics.

"I could have been a political hack, but I wasn't. That's a good sign. We don't need somebody to be a 'yes' person," John Henshaw, a former chemical industry safety expert nominated by President Bush, told the AFL-CIO safety and health conference. "What's most important to me is that I'm satisfied, I can sleep at night."

Given that there are approximately 7 million workplaces in the United States and only 1,100 OSHA inspectors, Henshaw said the agency would target only the worst employers for enforcement and try to reach others through marketing, education and voluntary compliance partnerships.

The AFL-CIO criticizes the Bush administration for chipping away at laws and regulations meant to protect employees, including an ergonomics standard put forth by OSHA under President Clinton and OSHA regulations that tightened record-keeping for hearing loss.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and subsequent anthrax exposures were a major topic. Conference participants said they should serve as a wake-up call to employers and employees whose workplaces are ill equipped to handle disaster.

The importance of updating safety and evacuation plans with appropriate emergency agencies and training employees to deal with emergencies was noted.

"This is the opportunity to make sure your workplaces, your facilities, are prepared," said Jim August, assistant director of health and safety for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Washington.

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