Ills at popcorn plant turn light on OSHA
WASHINGTON -- Seven years ago, a Missouri doctor discovered a troubling pattern at a microwave popcorn plant in Jasper. After an additive was modified to produce a more buttery taste, nine workers came down with a rare, life-threatening lung disease.
Missouri health authorities turned to two agencies in Washington. Scientists at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which investigates the causes of workplace health problems, concluded that the workers became ill after exposure to diacetyl, a food-flavoring agent.
But the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, charged with overseeing workplace safety, reacted with less urgency. It did not step up plant inspections or mandate safety standards, even as more workers became ill.
Yesterday, the top official at the agency told lawmakers at a hearing that it would prepare a safety bulletin and plan to inspect a few dozen of the thousands of plants that use the additive.
That response reflects OSHA's practices under the Bush administration, which vowed to limit new rules and roll back what it considered cumbersome regulations that imposed unnecessary costs on businesses and consumers.
Across Washington, political appointees -- often former officials of the industries they oversee -- have eased regulations or weakened enforcement of rules on issues like driving hours for truckers, logging in forests, and corporate mergers.
Since George W. Bush became president, OSHA has issued the fewest significant standards in its history, public health experts say. It has imposed only one major safety rule. The only significant health standard it issued was ordered by a federal court.
The agency has killed dozens of existing and proposed regulations and delayed adopting others. For example, OSHA has repeatedly identified silica dust, which can cause lung cancer, and construction site noise as health hazards that warrant new safeguards for nearly 3 million workers, but it has yet to require them.
"The people at OSHA have no interest in running a regulatory agency," said Dr. David Michaels, an occupational health expert at George Washington University who has written extensively about workplace safety. "If they ever knew how to issue regulations, they've forgotten. The concern about protecting workers has gone out the window."
Agency officials defend their performance, saying that workplace deaths and injuries have fallen during their tenure. They have been considering new standards and revising outdated ones that were unduly burdensome on firms, they said, adding that they have moved cautiously on new rules because those require extensive scientific and economic analysis.
"By the time the Bush administration is done -- we have a good record already -- we will have a better record," said Edwin G. Foulke Jr., the agency's head.
On diacetyl, Foulke said "the science is murky" on whether the additive causes bronchiolitis obliterans, the disease that has been called "popcorn worker's lung."
That claim is echoed by some industry officials, but a number of leading scientists and doctors agree with scientists at the national occupational safety institute that there is strong evidence linking the additive to the illness.
Without an OSHA standard, which would establish the permissible level of exposure for workers, companies can set any limit of exposure they want.
Instead of regulations, Foulke and top officials at other agencies favor a "voluntary compliance strategy," reaching agreements with industry associations and companies to police themselves.
Critics say the voluntary programs tend to have little focus on specific hazards and no enforcement power. Because only companies with strong safety records are eligible, they argue, the programs do not force less-conscientious businesses to improve their workplaces.
