Workers in the US are suffering slow, agonising deaths from occupational diseases because improved standards on well-established killers like beryllium and silica, both linked to cancer and serious lung diseases, are being stalled by industry interference and a legislative system that can keep new rules on the back burner indefinitely. Rena Steinzor, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and president of the Center for Progressive Reform, said: “OSHA hasn’t made a serious run at regulating chemicals in the workplace in a couple of decades.”
