Occ group warns feds rule changes could be toxic
Responding to recent news reports and comments from public officials regarding the possibility of changes in U.S. standards for exposure to toxic substances and hazardous chemicals in the workplace, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) is urging Congress and federal officials to resist changes that might be detrimental to workers.
In letters to Rep. George Miller (D, CA), Chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor; Sen. Ted Kennedy, Chair of the Senate Committee on Heath, Education, Labor; and U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, ACOEM warned that changes currently being considered to Department of Labor standards would add potentially harmful time delays in assessing risks of exposure to workers. ACOEM also stressed that any rule-change proposal must have adequate input from workers and the occupational health community, and must allow adequate time for review to ensure that all health and safety concerns are addressed.
"Decisions affecting the lives of millions of American workers should not be considered in secrecy or on timetables that have been accelerated with no apparent justification," ACOEM President Robert Orford, MD, said in the letter.
Orford 's letter warned that the proposed rulemaking would require the department to allow a new round of challenges to the risk assessments used to determine how much exposure to certain chemicals is unsafe. This would add another time consuming step to the already lengthy process of setting risk assessments for workplace chemicals, to the detriment of workers, he stresssed. DOL should move cautiously in any rulemaking that impacts workers' on-the-job exposure to chemicals and toxins. "Instead, the agency seems to be circumventing the transparent rulemaking process by promulgating a rule without input from workers, employers, and occupational physicians and allied occupational health providers," Orford charged. "ACOEM firmly believes that evidence-based science should be the underpinning of any rulemaking that impacts worker health and safety. However, the DOL's intent to truncate the rulemaking process has provided no opportunity for anyone outside of the agency to review the evidence base for this proposed rule."
In a separate development, the ACOEM sent a July 29 letter to every member of Congress urging support for the HR 1108 legislation that would grant the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco. "The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) heartily endorses this bill and we urge you to vote yes, " the letter stated. This measure is long overdue. Tobacco is one of the most dangerous consumer products on the market today and yet it remains one of the least regulated for health and safety purposes.
HR 1108 would allow restrictions on the sale or distribution of tobacco products. It would limit the marketing and sale of tobacco products to children, provide more meaningful warning labels, and require greater disclosure of product content. "It is a balanced, carefully crafted measure that enjoys broad support within Congress and across the nation," Orford said in the letter. "This legislation will save lives."
Responding to recent news reports and comments from public officials regarding the possibility of changes in U.S. standards for exposure to toxic substances and hazardous chemicals in the workplace, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) is urging Congress and federal officials to resist changes that might be detrimental to workers.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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