The Washington-based advocacy group Public Citizen and other organizations challenged the rule for a third time in March, alleging it is based on studies and data that do not prove a link between reduced fatalities and any HOS regimen.

Public Citizen on Oct. 27 released a copy of the agreement (.pdf file), which states FMCSA will submit a notice of proposed rulemaking to the Office of Management and Budget for approval within nine months of the settlement date. Motions to govern further proceedings must be filed within 30 days of publication of the NPRM in the Federal Register.

The Arlington, VA-based American Trucking Associations released a statement reaffirming its stance that HOS regulations have worked to improve the industry's safety performance, and said its members plan to participate in the upcoming rulemaking process.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced the new initiative in October. According to an FMCSA press release, employers will be able to access information regardless of state or jurisdiction. Federal privacy laws require that drivers must first give written consent in order for their records to be released.

DOT officials said commercial driver safety records currently are available to federal and state law enforcement personnel, and accessible to drivers through a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

In related news, FMCSA also released the names of carriers cited in enforcement cases during fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30. According to an agency report (large .pdf file), FMCSA conducted 5,214 enforcement cases and settled those cases for a total of more than $25.2 million.

The goals of the council are to further enhance the safety focus in all 10 DOT agencies and improve the impact of safety programs, LaHood said. The council also would help break down what LaHood called "organizational stovepipes" and would enable a stronger safety culture.

The council, made up of the heads of the 10 agencies, will be chaired by DOT Deputy Secretary John D. Porcari.

Researchers at the Blacksburg, VA-based Virginia Tech Transportation Institute's Center for Truck and Bus Safety combined and analyzed data from two large-scale CMV naturalistic truck driving studies. The data represented 203 CMV drivers, seven trucking fleets and 16 fleet locations.

Findings from the study show CMV drivers were engaged in non-driving-related tasks in 71 percent of crashes, 46 percent of near crashes and 60 percent of all safety-critical events. Analysis of the data showed 4,452 safety-critical events, 21 crashes, 197 near crashes, 3,019 crash-relevant conflicts and 1,215 unintentional lane deviations. A risk assessment showed drivers who text message while driving were 23.2 times more likely to be involved in a safety-critical event, compared with drivers who did not TWD.

The term "reincarnation" is used to describe motor carriers that attempt to evade out-of-service orders by closing down and reopening under new names. The report (.pdf file) outlines recommendations from workgroups overseen by FMCSA's Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee. The workgroups met from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 to review the motor carrier entrant process and advised FMCSA to:

• Define "new entrant" in a way that differentiates from "reincarnated carriers"
• Establish a new entrant application process, time period for a new entrant program and education standards
• Use authority more aggressively to seek criminal penalties for carriers operating fraudulently or in violation of a shut-down order

According to a DOT press release, grant money will be used to help train first responders to react to incidents involving hazardous materials and to meet the safety challenges posed by new chemicals and alternative energy products.

Funding for the grants comes from user fees paid by shippers and carriers of certain hazardous materials to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. In June, PHMSA withdrew a notice of proposed rulemaking to raise registration fees after revised estimates showed unexpended balances from previous years and expected revenues would be enough to fund the grants at the current fee level.

According to the recommendation letter (.pdf file), NTSB investigated a number of incidents across all modes of passenger transportation involving operators who have OSA. The board said these incidents highlight "the critical importance of screening for and effectively treating OSA among transportation operators." NTSB recommended FMCSA:

• Implement a program to identify CMV drivers who are at high risk for OSA and require those drivers to provide evidence of having been properly evaluated and, if treatment is needed, effectively treated before being granted unrestricted medical certification.
• Develop and disseminate guidance for CMV drivers, employers and physicians regarding identification and treatment of individuals at high risk for OSA, emphasizing that drivers who have effectively treated OSA are routinely approved for continued medical certification.

Arlington, VA-based ATA released a statement in October saying testing and education "must require classroom instruction and behind-the-wheel training that includes, but is not limited to, truck stopping distances, proper distances for following trucks, identification of truck blind spots and avoidance of driving in those blind spots." According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 35 percent of all truck-involved highway fatalities occur in a truck's blind spots.

Additionally, ATA's board of directors formally announced its support of the Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting (ALERT) by Drivers Act (S. 1653), which would limit federal funding to states that do not ban texting while driving.

"While I am cautiously optimistic that these decreases in injury and illness rates represent change in the right direction, they do not lessen the need for strong enforcement to ensure that safety is a top priority in every workplace," Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said in a statement.

The BLS report comes on the heels of OSHA's recent launch of a National Emphasis Program on recordkeeping (.pdf file) that the agency hopes will ensure more accurate injury and illness data reporting from employers.

The preliminary figures:

1. Scaffolding (1926.451) – 9,093
2. Fall Protection (1926.501) – 6,771
3. Hazard Communication (1910.1200) – 6,378
4. Respiratory Protection (1910.134) – 3,803
5. Lockout/Tagout (1910.147) – 3,321
6. Electrical – Wiring Methods (1910.305) – 3,079
7. Ladders (1926.1053) – 3,072
8. Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178) – 2,993
9. Electrical – General Requirements (1910.303) – 2,556
10. Machine Guarding (1910.212) – 2,364

Read the December issue of Safety+Health for the final list and an exclusive interview with Fairfax.

The two men shared the stage in Orlando, FL, during a keynote session on occupational safety and health issues at the National Safety Council's 2009 Congress & Expo. They acknowledged they share the same goal – making workplaces safer – but slightly differed in their approach to attain that goal.

Calling the idea of every business voluntarily achieving or exceeding OSHA standards "wishful thinking," Barab attempted to make the case for his agency's recent step-up in enforcement. "We are a regulatory enforcement agency, first and foremost," he said. "Under the Obama administration, we are going to act like one."

The agency would be moving from reactive to preventive, he said, pointing out the recent Texas construction sweep in which compliance officers from across the country descended on the state to conduct a number of investigations. He also criticized the current penalty system, noting a serious violation carries a maximum fine of $7,000, but the average fine issued is only $950. In addition to examining what the agency can do to improve the penalty structure within the current law, Barab said OSHA will be revamping the enhanced enforcement program – which was started during Henshaw's tenure – into a severe violator program.

Although Henshaw agreed "strong, fair and effective" enforcement was necessary, he stressed OSHA does not have enough investigators to rely on enforcement alone. "OSHA is not just a 'new sheriff in town,'" he said, referring to often-used language from Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "It is a sheriff as well as an instigator or a creator of advancement around safety and health."

The objective should not be to "cushion our coffers" by issuing stiff penalties and heavy fines, Henshaw said, but by taking steps to ensure an employer changes. To that end, he recommended continued use of settlements to leverage companies into compliance.

Henshaw said companies need to be encouraged to go beyond OSHA standards to achieve zero injuries, and the agency's partnerships, alliances and voluntary programs can help with that. OSHA will be working with labor unions and employees running effective safety and health programs to figure out how to use them as models for other companies, Barab said.

In an Oct. 29 hearing on federal OSHA's recent critical review of Nevada's OSHA program, Barab said the report "convinced me that significant changes must be made in how federal OSHA conducts oversight over the State Plan programs."

The federal method of monitoring State Plan programs changed from "intensive" oversight measuring the states against federal performance in the 1970s to a current system that measures state performance against the state's own goals, according to Barab.

Additionally, although the federal government is supposed to provide 50 percent of a State Plan's funding, federal OSHA has provided no "significant increase" to State Plans in the past seven years despite a 20 percent increase in the agency's budget, he said.

Forty percent of America's workforce is covered by State Plans, which are required by law to be "at least as effective" as federal OSHA. Due to a lack of funding increases by the federal government, some states have seen erosion in the resources committed to their OSHA plans, including some states that have had to leave positions vacant, according to Barab.

In response, OSHA plans to conduct a study on all 25 State Plan programs. A 15 percent increase in State Plan funding also was included in the fiscal year 2010 budget request.

Barab said states that fail to make improvements to identified problems with their OSHA program could see approval of their programs withdrawn and jurisdiction returned to federal OSHA.

In a rarely seen occurrence, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) appeared before the House committee to testify. He pledged to ensure federal OSHA "gets the funding it needs to ensure American workers' safety."

Updated Oct. 8, the technical assistance document answers frequently asked questions about pandemic planning for ADA-covered employers, including:

• During a pandemic, employers must continue to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with known disabilities that are unrelated to the pandemic, barring undue hardship.
• Employers may not ask employees to disclose if they have compromised immune systems or a chronic health condition that would make them more susceptible to influenza complications.
• Employers may require employees who have been away from the workplace during a pandemic to provide a doctor's note certifying fitness to return to work.
• Employers are allowed to send employees home if they display influenza-like symptoms during a pandemic.

As part of the study, researchers used data gathered from 1977 to 2008 in FWI's 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce, and found only 28 percent of workers reported their overall health was "excellent" today, compared with 34 percent six years ago.

The study also found:

• 41 percent of workers reported experiencing stress "often" or "very often"
• One-third experienced symptoms of clinical depression
• 21 percent were being treated for high blood pressure; 14 percent for high cholesterol
• 49 percent do not engage in regular physical exercise; 22 percent engage in no rigorous exercise at all

In addition, the report found 8 percent of workers remain wholly uninsured. People working low-wage jobs were less likely to be offered insurance through their employer and were less likely to receive at least five paid sick days. Both workplace productivity and health were found to be positively impacted by workers being offered paid sick and vacation time.

The final rule (.pdf file), published in the July 27 Federal Register, amends the federal motor vehicle safety standard on air-brake systems. The rule requires new heavy truck tractors to achieve a 30 percent reduction in stopping distance from current levels.

Presently, stopping distance requirements for air-braked buses is 280 feet, while air-braked single unit trucks must stop within 310 feet and air-braked truck tractors must stop within 355 feet.

For heavy truck tractors, the amended standard would require vehicles to stop by no more than 250 feet when loaded to their gross vehicle weight rating and tested at a speed of 60 mph, and within 235 feet when lightly loaded. Some service tractors would have a stopping distance requirement of 310 feet under the same conditions.

NHTSA officials estimate the rule will save 227 lives and prevent 300 serious injuries annually.

Members of the Truck Safety Coalition, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Parents Against Tired Truckers, and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways sent a letter (.pdf file) in June to Obama criticizing his choice of Ferro, the current president of the Maryland Motor Truck Association. The letter said Ferro supported the Bush administration's federal rule raising the number of consecutive hours truck drivers can be behind the wheel. The group also questioned whether Ferro would "stay the course" by continuing policies set forth by the Bush administration.

Ferro served as Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administrator from 1997 to 2003, according to a June 4 White House press release. She also serves on a number of regional advisory committees relating to freight planning, highway safety and transportation funding.

The notice outlines how railroads must use PTC systems to prevent train-to-train collisions, according to a Department of Transportation press release. PTC technology can automatically control train speeds and movements if a locomotive engineer fails to take appropriate action. PTC systems also can prevent over-speed derailments, misaligned switches and unauthorized incursions by trains into work zones, the release said.

The announcement came two days after the National Transportation Safety Board released findings from an investigation into a May 2008 Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line crash in Newton that resulted in one death and seven injuries. The board concluded human fatigue and a lack of PTC were factors in the crash.

According to FRA, major freight railroads and intercity and commuter rail operators must submit their plans for PTC systems to the agency for approval by April 16, 2010; systems are required to be in place by the end of 2015.

The special trailers are used to transfer cargo from ship or rail to truck for final delivery. According to a notice of the final rule published in the Federal Register, the new regulations would make intermodal equipment providers subject to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations and establish shared safety responsibility among IEPs, motor carriers and drivers. IEPs must have regular and systematic inspection, repair and maintenance programs in effect by Dec. 17, while marking of equipment with a Department of Transportation identification number must be in effect by December 2010.

The report (.pdf file), released May 12, highlights findings from an analysis of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's voluntary Performance and Registration Information Systems Management grant program. PRISM is intended to help states establish information system connections between state vehicle registration and FMCSA's safety databases. The program inhibits out-of-service CMVs from operating unlawfully by obtaining or maintaining valid vehicle registrations. GAO findings show:

• "Patchwork" implementation – meaning only 25 states have implemented PRISM to the point of where they are able to prevent out-of-service drivers from maintaining vehicle registrations – is one of several limiting program factors. FMCSA officials suggested program effectiveness would require voluntary participation of between 38 and 40 states.
• National PRISM implementation may not occur for several years if PRISM remains voluntary.

The recommendations address emergency coordination and prevention of large-scale rural transportation accidents, derived from the Jan. 6, 2008, motorcoach crash in Mexican Hat, UT. NTSB concluded the driver of the motorcoach experienced diminished alertness due to inadequate sleep, which led to his lack of awareness of the excessive speed and lane position on a downhill mountain grade.

One recommendation addressed motorcoach industry contingency plans to ensure trip planning to prevent driver fatigue, incapacitation or illness. Two others are addressed to the Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services:

• Develop a plan for state and public safety to pursue funding for enhancements of wireless communication coverage to facilitate prompt accident notification and emergency response along high-risk rural roads and roads well-traveled by large bus traffic.
• Evaluate the system of emergency care response to large-scale transportation-related rural accidents, then develop guidelines for emergency medical service response and provide guidelines to states.

Department of Transportation officials said in a press release that law enforcement officials performed approximately 8,700 roadside inspections, which resulted in more than 650 buses and 225 drivers being placed out of service for non-compliance with federal regulations. More than 665 bus companies were contacted for onsite comprehensive compliance reviews. The effort is part of FMCSA's "Operation Safe Student," which was carried out May 8-21 nationwide and in U.S. territories. Additional "strike force" efforts are underway.

According to a presentation summary, a three-member psychiatric medical expert panel recommended drivers with a history of psychiatric disorders undergo additional medical and psychiatric evaluation to further assess functional ability before being considered qualified to drive a CMV.

The panel also recommended drivers taking benzodiazepine – a drug with properties that can affect the central nervous system and impair driving ability – be prohibited from driving, while others taking lithium be prohibited from nighttime driving.

Among the agenda's recommendations:

• Prohibit drivers from use of nonintegrated in-vehicle technologies while driving
• Support uniform commercial driver's license testing standards
• Support strategies to increase seat belt use

A study (.pdf file) shows that in 2007, the number of fatalities for 15-passenger vans increased nearly 20 percent from 2006. Other findings show:

• About one-fourth of fatally injured occupants of 15-passenger vans during the past five year were drivers.
• In 2007, 45 fatalities occurred in 15-passenger vans that rolled over – 73 percent more than in 2006.

NHTSA officials recommend drivers of 15-passenger vans insist all occupants wear seat belts at all times, drivers of these vans are trained and experienced, tires are checked at least once a week using the manufacturer's recommended pressure levels, and no loads are placed on the vehicle's roof.

The report, Global Status Report on Road Safety, provides the first worldwide analysis of how well countries are implementing various road safety measures, including speed limits, anti-drunk driving efforts and seat belt use regulation.

Additional findings show:

• The highest death rates are seen in the Eastern Mediterranean and African regions, while the lowest death rates are among high-income countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
 
• Less than half of countries use the recommended blood-alcohol concentration of 0.05 grams per deciliter as a measure to reduce drunk driving.
• Helmet laws exist in more than 90 percent of countries, while only 40 percent have a law that covers both riders and passengers and also requires helmets meet a specified standard.
• 57 percent of countries have laws that require all car occupants to wear seat belts.

Michaels currently is a research professor and interim chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at George Washington University's School of Public Health and Health Services. During the Clinton administration, he served as assistant secretary of energy for environment, safety and health, where he helped enact an initiative to compensate nuclear weapons workers who developed occupational illnesses, according to a White House press release.

Michaels' appointment requires Senate confirmation.

The document shows a high of 6,632 worker deaths in 1994 and a low of 5,534 in 2002. In 2006, 5,840 fatalities were recorded.

In another analysis, the report charts the rising number of Hispanic worker deaths, from 533 in 1994 to 990 in 2006.

Other categories analyzed include selected fatal transportation events, multiple-fatality incidents, employment and fatalities by worker gender, and fatal occupational injuries by major occupation group.

Read the BLS report.

Federal officials met July 9 at the H1N1 Influenza Preparedness Summit at the National Institutes of Health to pinpoint strategies for combating a possible H1N1 flu outbreak during the fall flu season. During the summit, Sebelius said HHS is making available $350 million in preparedness grants to assist states and municipalities.

In addition, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said workplaces will need to prepare for higher rates of worker absenteeism, and employers should consider giving workers flexibility for time off if the flu affects others in their households.

In a related development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance July 8 describing planning scenarios for state and local governments that target high-priority populations for the H1N1 flu vaccination, including health care and emergency services workers.

A study of more than 6,000 workers conducted at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, found that those people who worked while sick wound up requiring more future sick days than their colleagues who took appropriate sick leave. 

The research indicated that workers with more than five days of "presenteeism" – or working while ill – in one year increased the odds of requiring more than 30 sick days in the two following years by 40-50 percent. 

The study was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (Vol. 51, No. 6).

The LEAN Works! Website provides free access to an obesity cost calculator, resources to plan and promote obesity intervention programs, and methods for measuring a program's return on investment.

Medical costs attributed to obesity were estimated at $117 billion in 2000, and obese employees are estimated to have medical expenses upwards of 117 percent higher than healthy weight employees, according to CDC.

(Read the August issue of Safety+Health magazine for more on the obesity epidemic and its effect on worker safety and personal protective equipment.)

CDC's Office of Women's Health, together with NIOSH, released a podcast that elaborates on the issues and why they are important. In addition, NIOSH publishes information on its Website that contains studies the agency has conducted to improve workplace safety and health for women.

CDC noted that the percentage of women working has increased to 60 percent currently from 34 percent in the 1950s. Women generally have more work-related cases of carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, respiratory diseases, infectious and parasitic diseases, and anxiety and stress disorders compared to men, CDC said.

Listen to CDC's podcast and review NIOSH studies on women's workplace safety and health.

According to a press release from the Elk Grove Village, IL-based American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, researchers split 841 Danish office workers into three separate groups. One group engaged in an hour of supervised cardiovascular exercise, such as aerobics or walking; another group did an hour of supervised strength training exercises focused on the neck and shoulder. The third group did not exercise during the workday.

Results showed that after one year, workers who engaged in either type of exercise reduced shoulder and neck pain by 30 percent and reduced cardiovascular risk factors. On average, the workers' body fat dropped 2.2 percent and blood pressure decreased enough to result in a 25 percent reduced risk of stroke, the release said.

The study was published in the July issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

The February report (.pdf file) outlines implications of freight transportation on safety, energy and the environment. Findings show in 2007 an estimated 41,058 fatalities occurred across all modes of transportation. Of that number, 4,006 fatalities (9.8 percent) resulted from highway crashes involving large trucks, while 802 (2 percent) were large-truck occupant fatalities. In 2006, an estimated 4,222 people died in crashes involving large trucks.

Additional data shows:

• Railroad incidents resulting in fatalities declined 6.2 percent to 851 fatalities in 2007.
• In 2007, about 2.49 million people were injured in highway crashes, about 8,960 were injured in railroad crashes, about 710 were injured in waterborne vessels and 62 people were injured in pipeline incidents.

Gibbs said Mexico plans to impose tariffs on U.S. exports after members of Congress on March 10 voted to halt funding for the program as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. President Barack Obama signed the bill March 11. 

The program, which began in 2007 under the Bush administration, allows Mexican carriers access on U.S. highways past commercial border zones as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement. An equal number of U.S. carriers were also allowed beyond Mexican border zones.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published a notice of the termination in the March 18 Federal Register.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in February released its annual report, "Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Fatality Counts and Estimates of People Injured for 2007." The report shows the number of people killed in crashes involving large trucks (gross vehicle weight greater than 10,000 pounds) was 4,408 in 2007 – a 4.4 percent decline from 2006. In 2007, 12,413 fatalities resulted from crashes in vans, SUVs and pickup trucks, which is a 2.7 percent decline from 2006.

Department of Transportation officials attributed the decline to improvements to all transportation modes, such as improved enforcement, vehicle safety features and enactment of safety laws.

According to a press release, NTSB recommended the Department of Transportation and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration "modify current federal regulations addressing the adequacy of mobile acetylene trailer design for protection during transport and the effectiveness and safety of current unloading procedures." NTSB also asked the Chantilly, VA-based Compressed Gas Association "to review its standard for fire suppression systems at loading and unloading facilities for these vehicles."

The board issued three recommendations (.pdf file) related to incidents when highway vehicles transporting bulk quantities of acetylene were not secured properly.

According to PHMSA testing requirements, operators of gas, hazardous liquid and carbon dioxide pipelines, as well as operators of liquefied natural gas facilities, must select a percentage of covered employees for random drug testing. The minimum annual random drug testing rate is based on the reported random drug test positive rate for the pipeline industry, which was less than 1 percent in 2007. A notice (.pdf file) of the testing rate was published in the March 3 Federal Register.

Researchers looked at data from six states whose police accident reports documented both factors in speed-related crashes. Findings released in February also show:

• Speed-related crashes due to "driving too fast for conditions" were more likely to have occurred on roads with higher speed limits (50 mph or more).
• 74 percent of speed-related crashes that resulted in one or more injuries were caused by "driving too fast for conditions."

In related news, the Arlington, VA-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Feb. 14 Status Report reported 21 states are attempting in the current legislative session to regulate the use of cameras to detect speeders and red-light violators. Last year, seven states enacted laws related to automated enforcement, IIHS researchers said.

According to NHTSA data, in 2007, about 31 percent of all fatal crashes were speeding-related, resulting in 13,040 fatalities. The economic cost to society of speeding-related crashes is estimated by NHTSA to be $40.4 billion per year.

VDOT released a report (.pdf file) in February of proposed budgetary reduction areas, which includes a reduction to safety service patrols and closing 25 rest areas. VDOT documents (.pdf file) show the rest area closures were selected primarily for their proximity to commercial areas, urban fringe areas or urban areas with limited capacity for truck parking.

Members of the Arlington, VA-based American Trucking Associations are opposed to the closings. ATA CEO Bill Graves sent a letter (.pdf file) on March 13 to Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) stating the rest areas are important for the safety of both average motorists and professional truck drivers. Rest areas play a "critical role" in preventing driver fatigue and providing accommodations for motorists' personal needs while on the road, Graves wrote.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe (D) on Feb. 18 signed House Bill 1013 into law. State Rep. Ray Kidd (D) proposed the bill, now called "Paul's Law" – named in memory of a Jonesboro man killed in September in a head-on collision caused by a driver who was trying to send a text message. The penalty for violating the primary offense would be a warning on the first violation and a fine of up to $100 on the second.

According to the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures, Arkansas joins seven states and the District of Columbia in banning text messaging while driving. Nine other states have banned text messaging while driving for novice or teenage drivers.

According to a university press release, testing will be conducted on commercial trucks owned by Ann Arbor, MI-based Con-way Freight as part of an integrated vehicle-based safety system program under an agreement with the Department of Transportation. The technology uses inertial, video and radar sensors, and Global Positioning Systems to make drivers aware of their vehicle's surroundings and warn them of roadway hazards and potential collision risks.

Unable to reach agreement on FY 2009 spending, Congress passed a continuing resolution Sept. 23 to fund government operations at FY 2008 levels. The continuing resolution expired March 6, but Congress extended it to March 11.

The omnibus legislation would fund labor, health and education appropriations for FY 2009, ending Sept. 30, at $151.8 billion – an increase of $6.4 billion from former President George W. Bush's budget request and $6.7 billion more than the FY 2008 level.

The bill designates $513 million for OSHA.

In related news, the massive stimulus bill President Barack Obama signed Feb. 17 contains no new specified funding for occupational safety and health agencies, according to a review of the legislation.

OSHA could potentially receive a portion of $80 million for worker safety initiatives in a Department of Labor "management" fund to support $3.95 billion in workforce training funding. In an earlier version of the bill, the $80 million had been ticketed to OSHA for workplace enforcement, but that language was stripped out during negotiations with the Senate to reduce spending in the legislation and focus on job creation.

The final version of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 also removed $40 million that would have gone to NIOSH for initiatives associated with the agency's National Occupational Research Agenda.

The nomination was stalled for several weeks after questions surfaced regarding Solis' husband's tax liens and her role as a board member and treasurer of a nonprofit, pro-labor union organization.

Labor unions hailed the confirmation shortly after the vote. Among them was the Washington-based Service Employees International Union, which released a statement saying Solis understands challenges confronting workers in the global economy.

The Office of Management and Budget is developing a set of recommendations for an impending executive order on improving "the process and principles governing regulation."

Incoming administrations historically review the federal regulatory process to ensure procedures are in line with presidential priorities, OMB said. In a memorandum to departments and agencies shortly after he was sworn in on Jan. 20, Obama directed the budget office to produce a set of recommendations for new rules on federal regulatory review. 

The changes are aimed at undoing significant changes former President George W. Bush made to agency regulatory procedures in January 2007 through Executive Order 13422 (.pdf file).

A comment period closed March 16.

The special edition of Safety Rep (.pdf file) provided a forum for a broad range of safety and health experts to suggest the priorities they would set for the agency under the Obama administration.

NYCOSH Executive Director Joel Shufro suggested OSHA should "openly advocate protecting workers" to restore workers' trust. Jordan Barab, senior labor policy advisor to the House Education and Labor Committee, said standards development and ensuring data-collection accuracy should be high priorities for the agency.

Others who wrote editorials in the newsletter include Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY); AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka; and David Michaels, author and interim chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Public Health Services in Washington.

The program is responsible for investigating the complaints of workers who risk employer reprisals for calling attention to prohibited practices. In its study (.pdf file), GAO found OSHA lacks:

• An effective mechanism to ensure data from complaints is accurately recorded
• Mechanisms to ensure the quality and consistency of investigations
• Certain resources such as equipment, training and legal assistance

GAO provided eight recommendations to the Department of Labor on ways to improve the program, including a new system to track whistleblower complaints and establishing minimum equipment standards for investigators.

The agency issued a letter of interpretation, dated Feb. 9, in response to an inquiry from a contractor in Whiting, IN, regarding an incident between two workers in a construction trailer. According to the letter, the workers, both supervisors, entered the trailer to change clothes at the end of their shift and engaged in banter that escalated into a physical fight. One of the workers allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed the other in the right bicep, causing a laceration that required sutures to close.

The contractor sought clarification on whether the injury was considered work-related, and thus recordable, under OSHA regulations. In his response, Keith Goddard, director of OSHA's Directorate of Evaluation and Analysis, noted that "we assume that the supervisors were in the change trailer as a part of their work or as a condition of their employment. If our assumption is correct, the injury resulted from an event (the altercation between the two supervisors) occurring in the work environment and was thus work-related."

As part of the study, conducted at the University of Virginia's Department of Public Health Sciences in Charlottesville, one group of workers met with a registered dietician both individually and in groups to discuss health assessments and goals, while a control group received standard care with written educational materials. The annual cost of the lifestyle intervention program was $328 per person.

According to a study abstract, study participants were asked how many days they missed work or were physically limited at work because of their obesity or diabetes at the beginning of the study, and again at four, six, eight and 12 months. Although the baseline measurements were similar in both groups, as the study progressed, the group in the lifestyle intervention program experienced a significant drop in both lost workdays and disability days. Overall, researchers found that these study participants reduced their number of lost workdays by 64.3 percent and disability days by 87.2 percent.

The study was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (Vol. 51, No. 2).

The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health study analyzed the association between long work hours and cognitive function. From a pool of 2,214 full-time British civil servants, researchers conducted several short-term memory and vocabulary tests, as well as other cognitive tests. Employees who worked more than 55 hours per week had lower scores in both the vocabulary and reasoning tests than those who worked no more than 40 hours per week, according to study researchers.

The study was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (Vol. 169, No. 5).

LaHood’s confirmation was delayed a week while the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation looked further into his background after questions were raised about earmarks and other financial matters. However, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV), who chairs the committee, said the nominee’s FBI report was "sparkling clean."