Hi, all. Scott Schneider, a member of the original SftP, asked me to 
forward this petition he created. Thanks! Sigrid

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A public petition was posted this week on the White House website to ask that they release a proposed rule to protect workers from silica exposure on the job.  Overexposure to silica causes an irreversible, progressive lung disease, and is also associated with lung cancer, chronic renal disease, and autoimmune disorders.  An estimated 1.7 million U.S. workers are exposed to this serious hazard.  Public health experts estimate that 280 workers die each year from silicosis and thousands more develop silicosis as a result of workplace exposures.

OSHA began working on a silica rule in 1997 and sent the proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget for review in February 2011.  Normally OMB has 90 days to review proposed rules.  Yet his rule has been there for almost 2 years.  Releasing the proposal for publication is just the start of the process.  OSHA rulemaking requires public hearings and extensive opportunities for public input.  This petition aims to merely move the process forward and start that rulemaking.  The petition requires 25,000 signatures by February 11th to elicit a formal response from the White House.

We encourage all to sign the petition at http://wh.gov/E3Ta and encourage everyone to get this petition out through their networks to friends and family.  Each year this standard is delayed thousands of workers are put at risk.  The delay has to end.


-- 
Sigrid Schmalzer
Associate Professor, History Department
Acting Associate Director, Social Thought & Political Economy Program
UMass Amherst