Good Monday morning and welcome to this week (5/24-5/28) in the workplace safety world. Driving conversations this week:

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH & SAFETY PROFESSIONALS (8,000+ Linkedin members): Active discussion – “What effect does workplace bullying have on the overall safety program within your organization?”

EHSQ ELITE (Linkedin Group): Active discussion: “I am interested in peoples opinion about the total banning of mobile phones, including hands-free, for anyone that drives for or on behalf of the company What are your thoughts?”

GREEN (Linkedin Group) most active discussion: 3,630 comments on “Is global warming finally being exposed for what it is?”

WASHINGTON: Congressional hearings about the Deepwater Horizon disaster may be the only thing spreading more quickly than oil in the Gulf of Mexico. So far, there have been nine hearings and three briefings on the oil spill — and Congress is only getting warmed up, with 11 more already scheduled.

Beginning Tuesday, lawmakers will focus on legislative responses, including proposals to overhaul the agency that regulates offshore drilling and to raise the legal limit on what energy companies must pay in economic damages from spills.

There is a risk too many committees will get involved and their work overlap. Already, 10 different House and Senate committees are probing the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

OBAMA ESTABLISHES BIPARTISAN NATIONAL COMMISSION: Modeled after similar independent investigations of the Challenger shuttle explosion and the partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant. Co-chairs: Former EPA chief William Reilly (Exxon Valdez spill occurred on his watch) and Fla. Senator Bob Graham.

OSHA STAKEHOLDER MEETING: Modernization of OSHA's Injury and Illness Data Collection Process - May 25, 2010, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC.

BP DELAYS NEW ATTEMPT TO STOP OIL LEAK: The oil company has been planning to attempt a procedure known as a top kill, in which heavy fluid would be pumped into the well. Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for exploration and production, said in an interview on NBC on Monday morning that the top kill would be attempted Wednesday morning. BP had previously said it hoped to execute the procedure on Tuesday.

RISKY BUSINESS: Jordon Romero, 13, became the youngest to ever scale Everest, the world's tallest mountain Saturday. Teens around the world are setting new adventure records - and prompting questions about risk and maturity.

SUCKED INTO SAUSAGE MACHINE: Police said a cleaning man was taken to a hospital after being sucked into a machine at a sausage-making company in Danvers, Mass. Accident happened Thursday night as the man was cleaning the vacuum-type machine that is used to season the meat at DiLigui Sausage Co. Police said the man's head and shoulders became stuck in the machine after it somehow activated while being cleaned. The Salem News reports that the man was freed from the machine and showed no obvious sign of trauma, but was taken to a hospital as a precaution. OSHA is investigating.