Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH
of Lecturer, Texas State University & Professorial Lecturer Milken Institute School of Public Health.
cmonforton
Posts by this author
May 25, 2017
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) says U.S. poultry companies “are being handcuffed” by a rule that set the maximum processing line speed at 140 birds per minute. Collins wrote this week to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and asked him to consider raising the maximum speed to at least 175 birds per minute. He…
May 22, 2017
Former Mayor Gayle McLaughlin remembers the phone calls from that evening. It was August 6, 2012. Constituents were calling McLaughlin at home to describe a huge cloud of black smoke infiltrated their neighborhoods. The cloud of pollution was coming from the Chevron refinery. A corroded pipe at the…
May 16, 2017
Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship is using his first few days out of federal prison to make outlandish assertions about the Upper Big Branch disaster. In an open letter to President Trump dated May 15, Blankenship appeals to the President:
“We share relentless and false attacks on our…
May 16, 2017
Federal OSHA is assessing whether Arizona’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) is meeting its obligation as an approved State OSHA program. The federal government’s scrutiny was prompted by a formal complaint, as well as investigative reporting by Emily Bregel and Tony Rich of the…
May 9, 2017
The southern U.S.’s construction boom is not translating into better wages and working conditions for construction workers. Those are the results of a survey of 1,435 construction workers from six southern U.S. cities: Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Miami, and Nashville. The survey, which…
May 4, 2017
Cell tower worker Kris Runyon, 39, fell to his death on Tuesday, May 2 in Meridian, MS. Local news station WAPT reports the incident occurred at about 7 pm when Runyon was 228 feet off the ground on a cell tower. A co-worker witnessed the incident and the county coroner reported that Runyon was…
April 28, 2017
Ignoring workers’ safety concerns.
Failing to fix hazards.
Directing employees to do unsafe tasks.
Repeatedly violating safety laws.
Falsifying training records and safety audits.
Lying to safety inspectors.
Who would do such things?
Regrettably, far too many employers and 12 of them are profiled…
April 27, 2017
Yesterday was a notable one in the efforts to improve working conditions for U.S. poultry processing workers. At a Perdue chicken processing plant in Salisbury, Maryland, faith leaders and worker advocates delivered some special packages to company officials. Thirteen hundred miles way in…
April 20, 2017
The Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Richard Denison, PhD tipped me onto news that the chemical industry’s chief trade association now has one of its own in a key EPA office.
Nancy Beck, PhD began work on Monday as second in command of EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.…
April 19, 2017
A new commentary by CUNY School of Public Health professor Franklin Mirer is timed perfectly for this weekend's Marches for Science.
Mirer writes about the ongoing interference by Members of Congress on the science behind the designation of formaldehyde as a carcinogen. His commentary, "What’s…
April 17, 2017
OSHA’s list of bad actors has two new members. I just happened upon an updated list on the agency’s website of the employers OSHA designates as "severe violators." It indicates the two companies were added in the four weeks following President Trump’s inauguration. The list is dated April 7, 2017.…
April 13, 2017
A coincidence? A tip from the well-connected? Divine intervention?
Whatever the reason, the timing couldn't have been more appropriate. Last weekend, a hundred physicians, patients, and trade unionists were attending the 13th Annual ADAO International Asbestos Awareness and Prevention Conference.…
April 3, 2017
In a news release issued today by OSHA, the agency announced an award of $5.4 million for a former Wells Fargo manager who was terminated after alerting superiors to potential fraud. The individual was dismissed from his job in 2010. He filed his complaint with OSHA in 2011 --- justice is not often…
March 30, 2017
The U.S. Senate passed a resolution last night urging Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy to warn the public about the risk of asbestos exposure. The deadly mineral continues to be imported to the U.S.
S. Res. 98 designates the first week of April as “National Asbestos Awareness Week.” The Senators…
March 29, 2017
From time to time I write a blog post titled “Not an accident.” These posts highlight the name of a recent workplace-fatality victim and also challenge the often-used term "accident" to describe such an event.
The hazards that lead to workers being killed on job---from being pulled into or crushed…
March 24, 2017
Dan Rather was the newscaster. His lead for the CBS Evening News on Friday, March 24, 1989 was:
"An oil tanker ran aground today off the nation's northern most ice-free port, Valdez, Alaska."
The Exxon vessel was holding 53 million gallons of crude oil. By 3:30 am, the Coast Guard estimated that 5.…
March 22, 2017
My favorite line from today’s Senate hearing on the nomination of Alex Acosta to be Labor Secretary came from Senator Elizabeth Warren:
“The test for Secretary of Labor is not: are you better than Andrew Puzder.”
Puzder was Trump’s first pick for the job. He had a long list of problems that made…
March 16, 2017
Labor Secretary nominee Alex Acosta is schedule to appear next week before a Senate Committee for his confirmation hearing. Senators should formulate their questions for him by reviewing a just released platform on worker safety. Protecting Workers' Lives & Limbs: An Agenda for Action makes…
March 14, 2017
Kentucky’s Labor Secretary Derrick Ramsey announced this week that his department would be issuing a “Monthly Workplace Safety Report.” The report will provide a recap of the previous month’s safety consultation services, which are offered to employers at no charge by the state’s Division of…
March 11, 2017
Rick Simer’s work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see OSHA’s findings in the agency’s recent citations against K.B.P. Coil Coaters, Inc.
The 64 year-old was working in August 2016 when he was killed on the job. The initial press report by the Denver Post indicated that Mr.…
March 8, 2017
The American Public Health Association, the American Lung Association, and other health protection organizations have put Members of Congress and the Trump Administration on notice: dismantling regulations and slashing agency budgets will have dire consequences for Americans. The groups urged…
February 28, 2017
Cirilo Banuelos Reyes, 50, fell to his death on February 14 at a demolition site in Lanett, Alabama. Roy Granger, his employer and owner of Regeneration LLC told WRBL:
“It was a very sad, sad situation and accident. ….This was just a freak accident that happened here.“
Reyes was working on the…
February 21, 2017
A reporter who ignores a whistleblower might miss an astonishing but true story. That’s one of the many lessons I learned from Andrew Schneider. The investigative public health journalist died on February 17 from heart failure due to a respiratory disease.
Schneider was respected by co-workers for…
February 16, 2017
President Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was confirmed today by a Senate vote of 52-46. The former attorney general of Oklahoma has been hostile to new EPA safeguards for air and water, most notably by suing the EPA 14 times over his career. The Senate's approval of…
February 8, 2017
Seven years ago this week, six workers were killed in a massive explosion at the site construction site for the Kleen Energy power plant in Middletown, CT. Congressman Joe Courtney (D-CT), along with Democratic colleagues from the House Education and the Workforce Committee, marked the occasion by…
February 8, 2017
As a former government employee, I know that presidential transition periods can be stressful and filled with uncertainty. I've been trying to imagine what it's like for federal employees who find themselves now part of the Trump Administration.
Some of what I remember experiencing was simple…
February 3, 2017
Today, The Pump Handle had its own bizarre experience with the Trump Administration. It came via an email sent by HHS spokesperson Matt Lloyd to members of the Association for Health Care Journalists. Some of those professionals were reporting on the data released today by the Centers for Medicare…
January 30, 2017
Hearing someone describe a situation as “one step forward, two steps back” is never a good thing. When it involves efforts to protect people’s health or public safety, the consequences can be dire. President Trump doesn’t care. He’s making good on a ludicrous campaign pledge that for every one…
January 25, 2017
I can thank the Trump Administration for one thing. I now have a new phrase to describe how the poultry industry distorts information about working conditions for its employees: alternative facts.
Last fall, the National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and U.S. Poultry & Egg…
January 18, 2017
There’s a thriving garment industry in Los Angeles which specializes in small volume production. The employers, who supply the trendy casual sportswear for companies such as Forever 21, Charlotte Russe, Papaya, and Wet Seal, employ about 45,000 workers in Los Angeles. A survey of more than 300 of…