Date: 2008-04-30
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5522. the Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008. On February 7 of this year. a huge explosion ripped through the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth. Georgia. Eight workers died instantly. and five more have died in the months since the explosion from the horrific burns that they suffered. More than sixty workers were injured. some so seriously that they will never fully recover. This was a terrible disaster. one of our Nations worst workplace tragedies of the past decade. The cause of the explosion was combustible sugar dust. It may surprise many of us that sugar dust can explode with such violence. But it can. and so can many other dusts that are commonly found in U.S. industrial sites. In 2003. three fatal dust explosions occurred in the United States. killing 14. workers. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigated these incidents. The board examined whether these tragedies were just coincidences or a major national problem. The Chemical Safety Board also examined whether there were adequate laws to protect workers or whether new protections were needed. The Chemical Safety Board found that these explosions were not coincidences. In fact. between 1980 and 2005. 119 workers had been killed and 718 injured in dust explosions that had also extensively damaged the industrial facilities. The Chemical Safety Board also found that there were no enforceable national regulations to prevent combustible dust incidents. Let me repeat that. The Chemical Safety Board also found that there were no enforceable national regulations to prevent combustible dust incidents. The Chemical Safety Board concluded that controlling combustible dust explosions isnt a mystery. In fact. the first National Fire Protection Association standards to prevent combustible dust explosions were issued in 1923. In November of 2006. the Chemical Safety Board. an independent Federal agency whose members were all appointed by President George W. Bush. concluded that the only way to prevent more worker deaths was for OSHA to issue a comprehensive standard covering combustible dust. That was in November of 2006. But to this day. OSHA has taken no action to issue a standard. In fact. OSHA has refused to act despite the fact that 70 more combustible dust explosions have occurred since 2006. Even now. after 13 needless deaths in Georgia. OSHA demonstrates no understanding of the urgency of this problem. This is a shocking failure by the very governmental agency responsiblefor keeping workers safe. Sadly. this isnt the only time that OSHA has failed to act on a Chemical Safety Board recommendation. and its not the only time where the result of that inaction has been the death of American workers. The Chemical Safety Board warned OSHA in 2002 that new rules were needed to prevent reactive chemical explosions. but OSHA refused to act. Then last December a reactive chemical explosion in Jacksonville. Florida. killed four workers. Because OSHA refused to act. Congress must now act. Congressman JOHN BARROW and I have introduced H.R. 5522 to force OSHA to do the job it should have done on its own. The legislation will require OSHA to issue an interim standard on combustible dust within 90 days and a permanent standard within 18 months. It would require OSHA to base the new standard on the National Fire Protection Association standards. OSHA says that the combustible dust hazards are already covered by numerous existing regulations. But that simply is not true. Most of the existing standards do not even mention the word "dust" and do nothing to educate or- inform employers and employees how to prevent combustible dust explosions. Existing OSHA standards also do not address what levels of dust are safe. how to clean the dust safely. or how to prevent dust from accumulating to unsafe levels. And it is not true. as opponents of this bill say. that we dont allow for public input. In fact. OSHA would have to conduct full public hearings and a small business review but to do so on an expedited basis that reflects the lifeordeath urgency of this issue. Because of the serious hazards imposed by combustible dust. because OSHA has issued no major standard during this administration except under pressure of the courts or the Congress. and because OSHA is unable to meet the regulatory deadlines it sets for itself. it is necessary to set some tight deadlines for action. It is also not true that this bill requires OSHA to adopt the National Fire Protection Association standards. The bill requires OSHA to include only the relevant and appropriate provisions of the National Fire Protection Association combustible dust standards. While the National Fire Protection Association standards have proven to be effective. OSHA should use its discretion. after full public hearings and comments. to determine how the National Fire Protection Association guidelines should be used in a final standard. You will hear opponents of this measure say we should wait until the OSHA investigation is completed and the results of OSHAs current National Emphasis Program are in. But we have waited long enough. And. in fact. again. the Chemical Safety Board recommendations predate that accident based upon the urgent need for these regulations to save American workers lives and to prevent their injuries prior to that time. Again. if OSHA doesnt act. we must. We know that most businesses are doing the best they can to make their workplace safe. But it is also clear that other businesses may not be doing enough to ensure the safety of their employees. The bottom line is that workers need protection and the agency established by Congress 37 years ago to protect . werkers has once again failed in that duty. The goal today is to protect workers from those preventable explosions. and we believe that this legislation accomplishes that goal without imposing unreasonable burdens on employers. I want to leave.the House with the closing words of a witness who appeared before the Education and Labor Committee. Tammy Miser. Tammy Misers brother. Shawn Boone. was killed in a combustible dust explosion in 2003. Tammy recounted the terrible suffering that her brother went through before he died. her hopes that something would happen after the Chemical Safety Board recommendations were issued. and her disappointment that OSHA has yet to act. even after the Imperial Sugar explosion. Tammy left us with this one request: "that you not let our loved ones die in vain and help us keep other families safe from the dangers of combustible dust." Its the least we can do for Shawn Boone. the workers in Port- Wentworth. and the many other workers who have needlessly lost their lives. Madam Chairman. I strongly urge that all of my colleagues will support H.R. 5522. Madam Chairman. I reserve the balance of my time.