On April 28, while thousands of Americans were commemorating Workers Memorial Day, 21 year old Kevin Hartley was hard at work stripping a bathtub. Co-workers found Kevin unconscious and rushed him to the hospital where he died later that afternoon of cardiac arrest.

We will be discussing the President’s proposed FY18 Budget Proposal and its effect on worker safety many times over the next few weeks and months, but I want to focus right now on Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta’s testimony yesterday defending the Administration’s proposal to eliminate the Susan Harwood Worker Training Grant program.

Workplace violence is a huge problem for workers. In 2015, 417 worker deaths were workplace homicides and violence was responsible for 26,540 lost-time injuries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Women, African America, Asian and Hispanic workers bear a disproportionate share of workplace violence fatalities.

Do Not Pass go: The New York Times reports that “the owner of two Brooklyn construction companies was charged with manslaughter on Wednesday because the authorities said he ignored complaints about a poorly maintained retaining wall that collapsed at a work site in 2015, killing an 18-year-old laborer and injuring two others.”

News that President Trump has slated NIOSH for a 40% cut sends shivers through anyone who thinks that strong, well-funded research plays a crucial role in developing effective programs to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses.

The Chamber of Commerce is nothing if it’s not consistent. Consistently opposed to each and every new protection issued or contemplated by OSHA, consistently challenging every new OSHA initiative in court, consistently (and drastically) overestimating the cost of every proposed OSHA standard, consistently opposed to any action by OSHA that would expand (or even maintain) workers’ rights.