OSHA Head Agrees: Gulf Cleanup Workers Need More Training

by Sasha Chavkin
ProPublica, June 17, 2010, 3:53 p.m.

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As we've reported, workplace safety experts and a federal official have expressed concern that the safety trainings that Gulf cleanup workers are receiving are too short and fail to prepare them for the health risks they are facing.

This morning on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal," the director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, David Michaels, was shown our report -- and said that he shared our concerns. "We agree with much of what is said there," Michaels said. He said that while four hours of training "may be adequate" for workers on the beaches, it was insufficient for others. "We've told BP that for workers on vessels who are pulling up boom which is contaminated by oil, more training is needed," he said.

Watch Michaels' appearance here:

Update: OSHA's chief also noted that the government's chemical exposure limits are "outrageously out of date" -- concerns that we raised last week in a post on how cleanup workers exposure levels may fall within the legal guidelines but still be far from safe.