OSHA Accused Of Neglecting Employees’ Health
By Brian Faler
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, October 10, 2003; Page A25
A regional administrator for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the agency charged with protecting the public from hazards in the workplace, has accused the office of neglecting the health of its own employees.
Adam Finkel, one of 10 regional administrators for the agency, said in a complaint filed yesterday with
the Office of Special Council that the agency declined to test employees who may have been exposed to
the metal beryllium. The metal is used in industrial and consumer applications—from nuclear weapons
to electronics production—and is believed to cause a potentially fatal lung ailment.
He said as many as 500 OSHA workers may have been exposed to the metal—by inhaling airborne particles, for example—while inspecting worksites. The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), an advocacy group, filed the complaint on his behalf yesterday with the special counsel, an independent agency that investigates whistleblower complaints.
The complaint asks the special council to order the Labor Department, OSHA’s parent agency, to investigate the issue. The special counsel has 15 days to consider the request. “It is both outrageous and ironic that the very professionals whose job is to ensure safe workplaces themselves face needless occupational risks due to bureaucratic indifference,” said PEER executive director Jeff Ruch. He said the tests in question would cost $150 per person.
In a written statement, OSHA denied that it is indifferent to its inspectors’ welfare and said it has a system for testing.
“OSHA places a very high value on ensuring the safety and health of all workers, including its
employees,” the statement said. “OSHA has a medical monitoring program that provides for agency-paid special testing, such as beryllium, if there was a possibility that an employee may have been exposed. Agency employees have been tested for beryllium under that program.” Ruch called the statement a “non-denial denial,” saying OSHA has only examined a handful of its employees for beryllium and does not routinely test specifically for exposure to the metal.
The complaint is based on air samples OSHA inspectors collected that included what Finkel considered to be significant amounts of beryllium. Finkel, an administrator for six Rocky Mountain States, said as many as 500 inspectors nationwide may have been exposed. Ruch said he did not know if any have become sick. But he said they have not been warned of the potential dangers, and perhaps as many as half of them have since retired.
OSHA has not denied the potential risks of beryllium exposure. “We know there’s an association
between adverse health effects and exposure to this metal,” said OSHA Administrator John Henshaw, in
a statement last November, in which he asked the public for recommendations on how best to address
the issue.
