Bureaucrats like Michaels and Barab say they don’t believe the (injury and illness) numbers industry is submitting to them so the answer is more bureaucracy. Safety and health pros have become wallpaper hangers. I’ll tell you, no one is going to enter this field in the future and OSHA is doing its level best to destroy small companies with fines and drive large companies overseas with administrative nonsense.

When AJ was acquiring small, family-run safety businesses in the early 70s, the new-fangled OSHA agency, run by a Reading, Pa., department store retailer who later would own a tour bus company, (think those credentials would fly today?) was conducting 80,000 inspections a year and scaring businesses into buying all sorts of PPE. Safety distributors and manufacturers never had it better. The manufacturing base in the U.S. was still strong, though just beginning to head overseas. Demand for hard hats, gloves, ear plugs, steel-toe shoes, respirators and “Buddy Holly” safety glasses would never be higher.

Good Friday,

The mother of all U.S. safety trade shows, the National Safety Congress & Expo, was held this week in San Diego. Cloudy, rainy San Diego.

Good Hump Day to you,

As the world of safety turns…

Good Friday morning,

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels at a conference earlier this week: “How can we tell Jeff Davis' wife Mary, and her five children, that the penalty for killing fish and crabs is many times higher than the penalty for killing her husband and their father?”

Happy Hump Day to you,

THIS JUST IN:

GULF CLEANUP WORKER SAFETY – GOVT. PASSED THE BUCK IN PLANNING STAGE - OSHA AND NIOSH FORCED TO REACT TO DECISIONS MADE W/O THEIR INPUT

Good Monday morning,

OSHA REFORM: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING?

DC insiders say it looks less likely that OSHA penalties across the board will be increased and criminal prosecutions broadened as part of the much ballyhooed OSHA Reform Package. OSHA reform legislation has yet to be voted on in the House, where Dem majority could easily push it through.

Good Friday morning,

SAVING VPP

Late in August OSHA boss Dr. David Michaels walked into the annual meeting of the Voluntary Protection Program Participants Association (VPPPA) with a message of tough love:

Welcome to September’s first hump day,

OSHA GOES RETAIL

Since September 1, OSHA has fined a supermarket, a discount dollar store, a pharmacy and a lumberyard for violations found by inspectors.

Just keeping everyone on their toes…

Good Friday morning and happy Labor Day weekend,

How did you sleep last night?

STUDY: CHRONIC INSOMINIA RAISES MALE DEATH RATES

ISHN's June issue features a number of articles on heat stress, fall protection systems, safety management, and body protection tips.