To set the record straight, while NV inspectors may have been siphoned off to work for better pay etc at the construction projects - I asked the Assistant Sec. of Fed OSHA why the NV office couldn't have called for help from Region 9 Federal when they realized they were short staffed. He said they(Feds)called and offered inspectors to the NV office and was turned down. They finally had to accept the offer.
"Up the chain"-who's up that chain? Not hard to figure out.

"OSHA Chief Tom Czehowski testified that the agency was caught off guard by massive strip construction because it could not pay inspectors enough. As a result the most qualified ones left the agency, he said." That is such a crock of garbage! They were caught off guard because OSHA didn't do anything! Think about it, once Alexandra brought attention to what OSHA was doing, they FINALLY decided they'd better stop negotiating citations away and guess what? THE DEATHS STOPPED! It had nothing to do with paying inspectors more - it had everything to do with being exposed for what they weren't doing and for not doing the job they were created to do. And why wouldn't the best inspectors leave the agency? They had no support from management. Management wasn't in the field doing the investigations yet management made the decisions from their nice corner offices that they knew better than the inspectors and allowed themselves to be bought off. The best ones left out of disgust!I'm all in support for paying the inspectors more and for having more of them but without the kind of support from management they should have, they will still continue to leave.

Great news! Thanks Jordan for all your hard work for the cause and to all the other lawmakers who are working to see that the American worker takes a front seat instead of a backseat to the bottom line of businesses. May all who have died before rest in peace and know there are many of us who will be your voice and do what we can to ensure your peers get to go home to their families every night.
And to businesses all over this country, you'd better wake up to what's coming and make an effort to care enough about your employees-human beings-who want to go home safe every night. For those who don't care - you're the scum of the earth!

If you really want to know what's going on in the worker safety arena - check out the below links to congressional hearings that were held in Washington DC on Worker Memorial Day 4/28/09.

http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_04_...

http://edwork.edgeboss.net/wmedia/edwork...

There is a lot of information in these hearings that will clear up much misconception that many have including Safety Dog saying that people can sue their employer - it is not the common occurrence.

I agree WC LC that workers need to take some responsibility for their own safety. Of course an employer can't watch every employee every minute of the day but if they really cared about safety they could put into practice some sort of check card system where - with no retaliation but noted - each worker watches those around him and if anyone is seen not complying with safety standards they can be reminded by their peers that someone is home waiting for them and doesn't want to have to attend a funeral so please use your gear or put your hardhat on or whatever the instance is. Before you say that it won't work, I meet someone in DC whose very large company uses that method and it works. They watch out for each other. Will it be 100%? Can't answer that, but it sure would be a step in the right direction. But the company has to take measures to put something like that in place.

There are many ways a company can insure the safety of their workers. They just have to be proactive enough to look for ways to make it work.

The author of this piece says "It is disgraceful that there isn't an groundswell of support for an overhaul of NV OSHA". I have to agree with that statement. I would encourage the families of those 12 lost workers to get involved and make your voices heard. Nothing will happen, nothing will change in this state if more people won't speak up. And who better than those of us who know what it's like to lose someone we love to NV OSHA's negligence, not to mention those cozy relationships going on. I just don't understand.......

This is fantastic news! As Mary says there's now a reason to believe rather just a reason to hope. He will do a great job! Thanks Alexandra for the story.

This is certainly a beginning to revamping a broken system and I applaud the efforts of Senator Carlton for taking this issue seriously. One point to make is that if the fines imposed were actually collected by the agency instead of being reduced they just might have the money they say they need. There's a lot of work ahead but it's definitely a good start!

How does a person find out about meetings like this ahead of time so we can be there and speak up??

It's not surprising that OSHA didn't send representatives to this meeting. It's obvious they are a huge part of the problem. While some of what's being proposed will help I agree with Mr. Jones that many workers will tune out the training and do things the way they want. If their employers aren't more diligent and if OSHA doesn't step up to the plate and do more to hold companies accountable then we will still see injuries and deaths that didn't have to happen. NV OSHA management needs to be cleaned out from top down and get someone in there who is 100% safety and won't cave in to pressure from outside the agency.