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Gulf oil Spill and Safety of Cleanup Workers

Gulf oil Spill and Safety of Cleanup Workers
Safety of the clean up workers in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has become a burning issue. Obama administration has been bombarded with many questions regarding the safety of the workers and have since been called on to ensure that BP has been properly protecting their workers. Two of the congressional Democrats have cited a memo from a Labor Department official calling attention to a "systematic failure on BP’s part to ensure the safety and health of those responding to this disaster."

Reps. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said in a letter to Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, “We cannot allow BP’s oil spill to cause any more damage or claim any more lives than it already has.” David Michaels, assistant secretary of Labor for occupational safety and health, said, “ The problems appear to be indicative of a general systemic failure on BP's part to ensure the safety and health of those responding to this disaster.'' From the very starting of the oil spill, OSHA has enforced BP to implement some effective measures to protect the workers during inclement weather. But still BP has delayed in reporting sickness among workers. The safety and the health of the workers at the Gulf of Mexico oil spill site still remains a matter of serious concern.

The workers have been suffering from chest pains, dizziness and headaches and have been hospitalized. While working on boats near areas where oil was burned off the surface of the water and chemical dispersant were sprayed from airplanes, these kinds of health problems have doubled and tripled. OSHA has taken remarkable steps to reduce such problems by providing all possible assistance to the workers. A four hour safety training is provided for the workers who are involved in clean up operations at oil spill areas. This has since become a mandate for the workers.

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