OSHA nominee confirmed and regulatory agenda updates from Labor and OSHA leaders
OSHA has solidified its leadership with the confirmation of epidemiologist David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, as the assistant secretary of Labor for occupational safety and health by the Senate.
Nominated by President Barack Obama on June 28, the Senate acted on the nomination December 3, reports Occupational Health and Safety, December 4.
Michaels has been a professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Washington, D.C, and is also the author of Doubt is Their Product: How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health.
Agency watchers assumed that any work on new, and perhaps controversial, standards, such as ergonomics or even an aerosol transmissible disease, would await the establishment of a permanent director.
While the nomination was pending, OSHA has been lead by interim director Jordan Barab, who has called the ergonomics issue “a huge health and safety problem” as well as a “huge political issue.”
But in an online Q&A session on Dec. 7, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said: “MSDs [musculoskeletal disorders] continue to be a major problem for American workers, but at this time, OSHA has no plans for regulatory activity.”
Solis did confirm that OSHA would publish a Request for Information concerning aerosol transmissible disease in March 2010, but would not predict how long it would take to issue a final standard.
Look for Michaels to be sworn in as head of OSHA later this week, Solis said.
Barab, in another online session, said that the agency is very excited by Dr Michaels’ coming on board, and with regard to his own position as deputy assistant secretary, he looks forward “to continuing to work on OSHA’s aggressive agenda.”
Click here for OSHA 2009 Fall Regulatory Priorities.
« FDA advises some Steris customers to change disinfection and sterilization methods | Home | Quick IC tips on FDA recommendations for the Steris System 1 processor »
-
Categories
- Ask the Expert—Bloodborne Pathogens
- Ask the expert—General OSHA
- Ask the Expert—Hazard Communication
- Bloodborne Pathogens
- Emergency Action Plans
- Featured
- First Aid
- General Safety and Health
- Hazardous Waste
- Infection Control
- Lab Safety
- Needlesticks & Sharps Injuries
- Notes from the field
- OSHA – Citations & Fines
- OSHA – General
- Pandemic Influenza
- Popular
- Uncategorized
- Waste Management
- Weekly Poll Questions
-
Archives
-
Feeds
David LaHoda
David LaHoda, the managing editor of Medical Environment Update and OSHA Watch, has produced healthcare training videos and consulted for medical practices and ambulatory healthcare facilities.
David has written 347 posts.
Leave a Comment