Celeste Monforton, one of the core people that make The Pump Handle such

an outstanding source of public health information, puts recent deaths related to cranes in context. We’ve had nine this year in New York, and locals may think the only reason is lax and corrupt local enforcement. Read Four dead, seven injured in Houston crane collapse

.

In the meantime, some data points to consider:

1. OSHA’s own

   crane-regulation rules committee has written to the Secretary of Labor, expressing their unhappiness that the Department of Labor hasn’t yet enacted a rule that they’d expected to be promulgated in 2006.

2. In that year, 2006, 72 people died in crane-related accidents.
3. Secretary Chao is creating with her risk assessment proposal

   . a distraction – rather than going ahead and publishing the proposed rule which is ready to go.