Responding to reports that workers hired by BP to assist in oil spill cleanup efforts are suffering health issues such as “severe headaches, dizziness, nausea and difficulty breathing”, Chairman Miller today asked OSHA to ensure that there are sufficient agency personnel dispatched to the Gulf of Mexico “to properly and aggressively protect the health and safety of those involved in the [BP] oil cleanup activities.”
The Los Angeles Times highlighted one worker’s story on Tuesday:
Read the text of Chairman Miller’s letter to OSHA
“George Jackson, 53, has been fishing since he was 12 and took a BP cleanup job after the massive oil spill forced the closure of fisheries and left him unemployed. As he was laying containment booms Sunday, he said, a dark substance floating on the water made his eyes burn.
"I ain't never run on anything like this," Jackson said. Within seconds, he said, his head started hurting and he became nauseated.
Like other cleanup workers, Jackson had attended a training class where he was told not to pick up oil-related waste. But he said he wasn't provided with protective equipment and wore leather boots and regular clothes on his boat.
"They [BP officials] told us if we ran into oil, it wasn't supposed to bother us," Jackson said. "As far as gloves, no, we haven't been wearing any gloves."
Read the text of Chairman Miller’s letter to OSHA
