Secret DOL Rule Change Would Increase Workers' Toxic Risks

July 24, 2008

The Department of Labor wants to weaken the rule regulating workers' exposure to toxins on the job, but it doesn't want anyone to know, the Washington Post reported this week.

The new rule, being pushed by DOL political appointees, would make it harder for the government "to regulate workers' on-the-job exposure to chemicals and toxins," the Post reported after obtaining a draft of the proposal the DOL tried to keep under wraps. The rule change is being sought by businesses who claim the government overestimates the risks workers face.