The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has refused to provide blood tests to 500 current and former inspectors who may have been exposed to beryllium, a highly toxic metal, despite recommendations from scientific and medical staff, according to an agency regional administrator. In a statement filed with the Office of Special Counsel, Adam Finkel, OSHA administrator for the Rocky Mountain region, alleges that the agency failed to order blood tests that can help diagnose chronic beryllium disease (CBD) -- a progressive and typically fatal lung disease -- up to 10 years before symptoms appear. Individuals can contract CBD after extremely low exposures of beryllium, and more than 500 inspectors and retirees may have been exposed to the metal while inspecting workplaces, according to the complaint. Finkel claims that in March 2001 scientific and medical staff briefed OSHA officials, recommending that the agency adopt a pilot program for testing inspectors who had been exposed to beryllium, yet no action was taken. More than a year later, in April 2002, Assistant Labor Secretary John Henshaw convened an OSHA Executive Board meeting at which the beryllium issue was to be discussed. However, Henshaw cut the discussion short, announcing that OSHA:

• Would not offer testing to retired inspectors;
• Would not explain to former inspectors why they might want to receive the test or tell them where to seek help; and
• Would not offer testing to active inspectors but might in the future, as part of regular medical examinations provided to inspectors every three years.

“OSHA is supposed to be setting appropriate workplace health standards yet it is failing to take the prudent steps required to protect its own inspectors from a lethal lung disease,” commented Jeffrey Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Ruch noted that OSHA recently spent more money on consultants and focus groups to develop its new slogan -- “Safety and Health Add Value” -- than it would cost to test all exposed inspectors. The OSC must rule on the merits of Finkel’s disclosure within 15 working days. If the office determines that there is a substantial likelihood of wrongdoing it will oversee an investigation by the secretary of Labor.