"We Can't Enforce Our Way Into Safe Workplaces" says OSHA Head

A planned conversation between US and Canadian workplace safety leaders turned into a candid conversation between current and former OSHA leaders on May 21 at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Exposition in Montreal.
 
EHS Today reports that the conversation between Dr. David Michaels and former OSHA Administrator John Henshaw included views on standards, budget issues, public policy and more. While discussing enforcement and budget cuts, Michaels said, "We can't enforce our way into safe workplaces... If we inspect 80,000 workplaces instead of 40,000, that means we visit every workplace in the U.S. every 50 years instead of every 100 years.”
 
Michaels also spoke candidly about VPP, PELs, a "weak" noise standard and a silica proposal.

• Read the EHS article here.
• Read news from AIHce 2013 here.