Union Claims W. Virginia OSHA Is Ineffective

http://safety.blr.com/news.aspx?id=115575

March 10, 2010
Union Claims W. Virginia OSHA Is Ineffective

A field organizer for West Virginia Public Workers Union UE Local 170 says the state OSHA program has conducted no routine safety inspections since 1995. The Charleston Gazette reports that organizer John Thompson based his conclusions on state data collected under a Freedom of Information Act request.

“West Virginia government is the state’s largest employer, but the state can’t guarantee a safe workplace,” Thompson claims. Although a state plan program was created in 1987, it reportedly has no funding. The newspaper quoted Jennifer Burgess, safety director for the state Division of Labor, who said, “Since the program is not funded, we don’t have a staff. We don’t have travel money. We don’t have any equipment.”

Burgess said the state plan works with staff “borrowed” from federal OSHA. And she acknowledged that the program has no jurisdiction over state and municipal workers.

According to Thompson, a state OSHA reform bill could be the first step in getting needed program funding. State plans are typically half-funded by federal OSHA.

WV may be a bad business climate in terms of taxes but it is like the third world in terms of regulation. Our local State Delegate got a bill passed that exempts any pollution from control if it is remotely related to agriculture. I have watched as a farmer spread truck load after truck load of pig shit onto a field that has a river running through it. This was in city limits, across the street from McDonald's and Subway. Sure made me want to stop for a snack. They also allow dumping of chicken guts into that same river, all within the city limits. This is the river that provides drinking water for the county and is part of the Chesapeake Bay water shed. Then there is the explosion at the Bayer chemical plant in Charleston last year that was never really investigated and no one really knows what was released into the air. Seems that Bayer gave a story from corporate and the state said OK, that's cool. Later tests and witnesses said the official story was a lie and that very harmful chemicals were released. So far the story is dead and no one is asking any questions.