Senators: Administration Too Lax on Worker Safety

Senators slam Labor Department for pulling workplace fatality info from its website, call on Secretary to nominate qualified OSHA administrator

By U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - Sep 22nd, 2017 08:39 am

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin joined Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and six other senators in pressing Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta on a series of actions that have led the Senators to question the Administration’s attitude toward worker safety, including its failure to nominate a qualified Administrator to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The Administration also recently removed data on deaths in the workplace from its website and implemented a new policy to disclose fewer deaths – removing one of the most basic deterrents to unsafe working conditions and depriving workers and families of basic information on workplace safety.

“Everyone should be able to go to work each day knowing they will come home each night in the same condition and without experiencing any threat to their health and safety,” wrote the Senators. “Recent actions taken by OSHA under your leadership call into question whether the Administration shares this goal. The failure to nominate an individual to be OSHA Administrator is further indication that worker safety is not a top priority of this Administration.”

The letter was also signed by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Al Franken (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

A copy of the letter the Senators sent is available here.