Tom O'Connor

"This Summit is the first step in what is quickly becoming a powerful, diverse and vigilant coalition," said Tom O'Connor, National COSH Coordinator.

To read the final workplans and get involved in national policy advocacy, email Tom O'Connor at oconnorta@gmail.com.

Info: Tom O¡¯Connor, 919-933-6322 or 919-428 ©\ 6915, oconnorta@gmail.com, www.protectingworkers.org/node/27.

But funding levels are only one aspect of a larger problem, according to Tom O'Connor, national coordinator for COSH.A bigger obstacle for COSH groups and labor safety educators comes from the technology-oriented approach OSHA has increasingly embraced in the last several years, he said.

The shift in priorities has been noticed by health and safety advocates ever since Bush took office, but it began in earnest with the 2005 budget request, they say.For that year, Bush proposed revising the Susan Harwood training grants program to "focus on new technologies and emphasize development of training materials rather than delivery of training."

O'Connor said, "The top people at OSHA in this administration are greatly enamored with high-tech training, web-based training, production of DVD's and the like."

He continued, "These bureaucrats are so removed from the reality of low-income workers that they don't seem to realize that few of the workers who most need this training have the capacity to access such methods."
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Though unions don't provide much direct funding to the groups, they helped form the first COSH groups and every COSH has a union representative on its board of directors, O'Connor said.
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According to O'Connor, the national coordinator, the 22 smaller groups that make up the network formally joined together as a national body and obtained tax-exempt status last year for two reasons: to ease the process of attaining grant money and to develop "a stronger national presence as an advocate for workers health and safety."

But funding levels are only one aspect of a larger problem, according to Tom O'Connor, national coordinator for COSH. A bigger obstacle for COSH groups and labor safety educators comes from the technology-oriented approach OSHA has increasingly embraced in the last several years, he said.
...
O'Connor said, "The top people at OSHA in this administration are greatly enamored with high-tech training, web-based training, production of DVD's and the like."

He continued, "These bureaucrats are so removed from the reality of low-income workers that they don't seem to realize that few of the workers who most need this training have the capacity to access such methods."
...
Though unions don't provide much direct funding to the groups, they helped form the first COSH groups and every COSH has a union representative on its board of directors, O'Connor said.
...
According to O'Connor, the national coordinator, the 22 smaller groups that make up the network formally joined together as a national body and obtained tax-exempt status last year for two reasons: to ease the process of attaining grant money and to develop "a stronger national presence as an advocate for workers health and safety."

If you would like to send along any non-English language materials that you or your organization have produced for inclusion on the COSH website, please send them to: Tom O'Connor, Coordinator, National COSH Network, Tel/Fax: 919-933-6322, Email: taoc123@bellsouth.net.

Contact Information: For more information on the National COSH, contact the COSH group in your area or the National COSH Coordinator, Tom O'Connor at taoc123@bellsouth.net.

Tom O'Connor, Coordinator, National COSH - 919 933-6322
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Tom O'Connor, Coordinator, National COSH - 919 933-6322

For more information regarding this event contact Tom O'Connor 919-933-6388, 919-428-6915 or via email at oconnorta@gmail.com.

Tom O'Connor, a Chapel Hill-based coordinator for COSH, a national network of worker advocacy groups, is more blunt.

"Whatever they're doing doesn't seem to be working," he said.

O'Connor is helping lead a campaign to impose tougher federal penalties on employers that don't follow safety and health regulations.He points to California, which three years ago raised the maximum civil fines for serious workplace safety violations to $25,000, compared with North Carolina's $7,000.