"U.S. Revisiting 'Broken' Workplace Chemicals Regulation Process"

"WASHINGTON - The U.S. government will soon begin receiving public suggestions on how federal regulators should update their oversight of toxic chemicals in the workplace.

The new information-gathering process, which began last week and will continue for the next six months, could result in the first major overhaul of related regulations in more than four decades. Of the tens of thousands of chemicals thought to be in regular use in the United States today, the government’s main labour regulator oversees fewer than 500.

'New chemicals are being introduced into worksites every year, and we are struggling to keep pace with the potential hazards,' David Michaels, the top official at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an office within the Labour Department, told journalists while unveiling the new request for information.

'As a result, 40 years after the creation of OSHA, thousands of American workers are still becoming ill and dying from exposure to hazardous chemicals.' "

Carey L. Biron reports for Inter Press Service October 22, 2014.