On the legislative and regulatory front there has not been an outpouring of new regulations on the federal level, but activities at the state level have been extensive, especially in the area of proposed mold legislation. In fact, this appears to be the year of resurgence of issues related to potential exposures to various biological and terrorist agents such as avian influenza, prions (mad cow disease), tuberculosis, and anthrax and ricin in the mail. Add to those concerns media reports alleging inadequacies in the protection of some chemical plants from terrorist attacks. There also is pressure being exerted by the Chemical Safety Board on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to address reactive chemical hazards. Combined, these are just a few issues which predict that new regulatory initiatives may not be too far in the future.
Although there is not a significant outpouring of regulations, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) was quite active relative to alliances and partnerships with such agencies as OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). The ASSE Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC) continues to comment on bills being proposed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Legislative and regulatory priorities have been identified and are being pursued. Professional recognition remains on the top burner. Our representative in Washington, DC, Adele Abrams, continues to lobby on behalf of the interests of ASSE. Dave Heidorn, Manager, ASSE Governmental Affairs and Policy, ensures that policy determinations by the GAC are implemented through ASSE lobbying activities at the federal and state levels, serving as the GAC liaison to ASSE staff, and communicating
During this past year a significant development was to rewrite the Operating Procedures governing the GAC to limit terms and provide more opportunities for members to move into positions on the GAC.
The GAC is currently comprised of the following members:
Table (available in full paper)
This once proposed standard, otherwise known as the Injury Illness and Prevention Standard, was withdrawn by OSHA in 2002 but was referenced in our recent letter to President Bush on the federal Safety, Health, and Return-to-Employment (SHARE) workplace safety and health management program. In that letter ASSE encouraged that the standard be used to guide the management of federal agency programs.
Senator Enzi's SAFE Act, although not yet introduced this term, will have the support of ASSE and the GAC is actively working with Senator Enzi's staff on the reintroduction of this legislation as a single or multiple bills.
Proposed and active legislation on mold is appearing in many states and the GAC expects we will see even more during 2004. The GAC has been actively communicating to Regions and Chapters to make sure that our members are kept aware of state activities and are not kept from qualifying to perform mold remediation work. The following table is a breakdown of state legislation on mold:
(available in full paper)
