Bill Introduced in US Senate to Expand Rights of Injured Service Members

The Carmelo Rodriguez Military Medical Accountability Act (S. 1347 / H.R. 1478), sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) has been introduced in the US Senate. The legislation would permit members of the US armed services to file claims for medical malpractice.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence ?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had twocsons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Remember this 4th of July: Freedom is never free!

Owner of Asbestos Mine Agrees to Address Contamination

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that as part of a multi-site settlement, G-I Holdings Inc. has agreed to address asbestos contamination caused by its past operation of the largest chrysotile asbestos mine and mill in the country.

The 1,673-acre abandoned mine site in Vermont, known as the Vermont Asbestos Group Mine Site (VAG Site) is the most significant of the contaminated sites covered by the settlement, which includes 12 other industrial sites across the country where G-I may have disposed of hazardous waste.

"The cornerstone of this settlement is that G-I is responsible for completing extensive work at the Vermont Asbestos Group Mine Site, focusing on site security, air monitoring and investigating and sampling certain mine tailings," said John C. Cruden, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "G-I will also pay for its share of cleanup costs for this Site and nine other contaminated sites around the country."

The consent decree was filed in the U.S Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey and is subject to a 30 day public comment period and approval of the Federal Court. A copy of the consent decree is available on the Department of Justice Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

Claims for asbestos related disease have played a significant roll in the national workers' compensation system. Additional information concerning asbestos exposure is available on our website: http://www.gelmans.com/

Mother's Occupational Exposure to Pesticide Increases Child's Risk of Leukemia

A recent study by the McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment of the University of Ottawa finds that an increased risk of childhood leukemia is associated with the mother's exposure at work to pesticides.

"Childhood leukemia was associated with prenatal maternal occupational pesticide exposure in analyses of all studies combined and in several subgroups. Associations with paternal occupational pesticide exposure were weaker and less consistent. Research needs include improved pesticide exposure indices, continued follow-up of existing cohorts, genetic susceptibility assessment, and basic research on childhood leukemia initiation and progression."

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Childhood Leukemia and Parental Occupational Pesticide Exposure, Donald T. Wigle, Michelle C. Turner, and Daniel Krewski
doi: 10.1289/ehp.0900582 (available at http://dx.doi.org/)
Online 19 May 2009

C-Span TV: David Michaels Author of "Doubt is Their Product"

David Michaels, former Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety, and Health during the Clinton administration contends that corporations hire their own scientists to skew the safety records of certain products. He recently spoke at an event was hosted by the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC. The speech was broadcast by C-Span TV.

David Michaels directs the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. Mr. Michaels was formerly Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety and Health during the Clinton administration. He received the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award in 2006. Michael authored Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health.

National Grassroots Alliance Supports Improved Working Conditions

A swell of grassroots enthusiasm has been embodied in the recently formed Protecting Workers Alliance (PWA). The national coalition to protect workers’ health and safety is sweeping the country and being embraced by organizations from coast to coast as it advances its supports efforts to make the workplace safer.

Since its formation in February, PWA has established a unified agenda and begun has advocating for administrative and legislative changes that will help create good jobs in a safe occupational environment.

PWA is advancing a strong national policy agenda:

1. Put worker health and safety first by making the Protecting Workers on the Job agenda a top priority of the President and Congress.

2. Ensure health and safety protection of all workers through tough enforcement of existing regulations, new worker protections, and research.

3. Count all occupational injuries and illnesses and increase funding for Federal and State-based public health tracking programs.

4. Increase worker participation in workplace safety and health programs and protect workers from retaliation.

5. Eliminate disparities in the high rates of deaths, injuries and illnesses among all workers.

6. Reform workers’ compensation programs to ensure appropriate and equitable remedies for the costs of occupational injuries and illnesses for all workers.

7. Reduce or eliminate widespread use of toxic chemicals to protect workers on the job and to safeguard the communities in which we all work and live.

The group’s legislative agenda includes supporting, among other legislation:

Protecting America's Workers Act: HR 2067 to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to expand coverage under the Act, to increase protections for whistleblowers, to increase penalties for certain violators, and for other purposes.

National Commission on State Workers' Compensation Laws Act of 2009 HR 635 Introduced by Rep. Joe Baca, D-CA, Jan. 21, 2009.

Corporate Injury, Illness, and Fatality Reporting Act of 2009: HR 2113. To require the Secretary of Labor to prescribe regulations requiring employers with more than one establishment and not fewer than 500 employees to report work-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses.

HR 242: A bill directing OSHA to issue regulations requiring "site-controlling" employers to record all injuries that occur on their sites, including temporary and contract workers. Sponsored by Rep. Gene Greene, D-TX. Introduced Jan 7, 2009.

HR 849 Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act of 2009. To require the Secretary of Labor to issue interim and final occupational safety and health standards regarding worker exposure to combustible dust, and for other purposes.

The PWA steering committee is composed of wide spectrum of interests and causes from across the US who are all interested in creating a safer and healthier workplace. The PWA offers a newsletter service for those who wish to be kept up to date of the groups efforts.

NIOSH Proposes Special Cohort to Include Linden NJ Workers

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a notice of a decision to designate a class of employees for the Standard Oil Development Company in Linden, New Jersey, as an addition to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. On June 18, 2009, the Secretary of HHS designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC:

All AWE employees of the Standard Oil Development Company in Linden, New Jersey, during the period from August 13, 1942 through December 31, 1945, while working for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, either solely under this employment or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees in the SEC.

This designation will become effective on July 18, 2009, unless Congress provides otherwise prior to the effective date.

Federal Register: June 30, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 124 Page 31279-31280