Papers by Ruth Ruttenberg
Thousands of railroad Maintenance-of-Way (MOW) workers develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) from ... more Thousands of railroad Maintenance-of-Way (MOW) workers develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) from their work. Objective: This study calculates the social and economic burdens of carpal tunnel syndrome borne by thousands of MOW workers. Methods: Economic calculations are derived from the literature and also from a survey of 4,800 MOW respondents, 155 in-depth interviews, and two focus groups. Results: This one health problem alone costs at least $128.6 million to $225.3 million over the course of CTS cases currently diagnosed among MOW workers. Many individuals work through significant pain or have to leave the profession. Some are crippled for life. Conclusion: When a worker has carpal tunnel syndrome, beyond pain and suffering, there are often financial burdens that affect families, railroad companies, insurers, communities, and taxpayers as well as the injured workers.
There are thousands of labor-management committees for occupational safety and health in the Unit... more There are thousands of labor-management committees for occupational safety and health in the United States. Most were established or activated after passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Such committees can be an important tool when used as part of a comprehensive effort to achieve safety and health in the workplace. Tn the United States, labor-management committees are unlikely to have substantial authority or power. Rather, they are generally advisory in nature-usually reviewing, commenting, and making recommendations. They could play a substantial role, however. To be substantially empowered, labor-management committees would need to be represented by top-level management and well-placed union representatives who have adequate training and expertise in the field. Management representatives would also need the backing of corporate leadership. Many innovati7e labor-management activities are succeeding in improving the work environment. Included among them are the joint labor-management Jommittees that exist at the Madison office of Wisconsin Bell; Horace W. Longacre, Inc., in Pennsylvania; Georgia Power's Vogtle plant; General Motors; and the Eugene (Oregon) Water and Electric Board. (Sample contract language and examples of contracts for joint labor-management safety committees are appended.) (MN)
The Taxpayer’s Burden from Product-Related Harm
Social Science Research Network, 2011
... 25 NA KRAUSS, SR MACHLIN, & GA ADAMS, AGENCY FOR HEALTH RESEARCH AND QUALITY, US DEP'... more ... 25 NA KRAUSS, SR MACHLIN, & GA ADAMS, AGENCY FOR HEALTH RESEARCH AND QUALITY, US DEP'T OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVS., RESEARCH FINDINGS #19: HEALTH CARE EXPENSES FOR INJURIES: ESTIMATES FROM THE 1997 MEPS 2 tbl. ...
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2020
Thousands of railroad maintenance-of-way (MOW) workers develop chronic obstructive pulmonary dise... more Thousands of railroad maintenance-of-way (MOW) workers develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from their work. Objective: This study calculates the social and economic burdens of COPD borne by thousands of MOW workers. Methods: Economic calculations are derived from the literature and also from a survey of 4,800 MOW respondents, 155 in-depth interviews, and two focus groups. Results: COPD alone costs at least $179 million over the course of cases currently diagnosed among MOW workers. Many individuals work through significant pain and breathing difficulties or have to leave the profession. Some are crippled for life. Conclusion: When a worker has COPD, beyond pain and suffering, there are often financial burdens that affect families, railroad companies, insurers, communities, and taxpayers as well as the injured workers.
Advances in preventive medicine and health care, 2019
Thousands of railroad maintenance-of-way (MOW) workers develop cancer from their work. Objective:... more Thousands of railroad maintenance-of-way (MOW) workers develop cancer from their work. Objective: This study calculates the social and economic burdens of cancer borne by MOW workers. Methods: Economic calculations are derived from the literature and also from a survey of 4,800 MOW respondents, 155 in-depth interviews, and two focus groups.
Occupational safety and health in the chemical industry
Counting the Cost of Health, Safety, and Environmental Regulation
Texas Law Review, Jun 1, 2002
"While EPA devotes substantial resources to cost-benefit analyses when developing new regula... more "While EPA devotes substantial resources to cost-benefit analyses when developing new regulations, the agency seldom looks back at the actual costs and benefits after those regulations have been implemented."1 "How is my career going to be advanced by doing a study that shows that three years ago the agency made a wrong prediction? It is not in my best interest."2 I. Introduction In an article aptly titled Regulatory Costs of Mythic Proportions, Professor Lisa Heinzerling demonstrated that tables purporting to display the cost-per-life-saved of dozens of regulatory interventions are based upon erroneous and often outrageous assumptions.3 Yet legal scholars and other policy analysts, for lack of any better source of information, routinely incorporate these tables (a form of "urban legend," in Professor Heinzerling's view) into critiques of existing regulatory programs as if they were based upon hard empirical data.4 Professor Heinzerling's analyses have focused primarily upon the denominator of the cost-per-life-saved ratio in these tables.5 She has rather convincingly demonstrated that many regulatory interventions that appear to be wildly expensive when viewed from this perspective were probably not so costly because the number used in the denominator seriously underestimated the benefits of the regulations. In examining the numerator, Professor Heinzerling came to the surprising, but IMAGE FORMULA8 revealing conclusion that more than half of the regulations portrayed in the most frequently cited tables did not cost society anything at all because they never went into effect.7 This modest bit of empirical analysis (simply observing the extent to which the agency actually finalized the proposals portrayed in the tables) rather thoroughly undermined seemingly daunting numbers that were not empirically supported. The tables were impressive, but they did not reflect reality.8 This Article will focus exclusively on the empirical basis for cost assessments that go into regulatory impact analyses for major rules and that provide the basis for broad statements about the burden that federal health, safety, and environmental regulation imposes on the economy. We propose to carry Professor Heinzerling's analysis a step further by examining the extent to which the predicted costs of proposals that have gone into effect match the actual costs incurred by the regulated entities.9 At the same time, we will probe the empirical basis for several influential assessments of the burden of health, safety, and environmental regulation on the private sector. Like the cost-per-life-saved tables, many of these broad assessments are based largely upon ex ante predictions, highly ambitious assumptions, and very little empirical analysis of the actual costs that regulatees have incurred in complying with particular regulations. In undertaking this exercise, we have come to two broad conclusions, one of which is not at all surprising and the other of which is somewhat disturbing. The first broad conclusion is that ex ante cost estimates have usually been high, sometimes by orders of magnitude, when compared to actual costs incurred. This conclusion is not at all surprising in light of the strategic environment in which the predictions are generated. In preparing regulatory impact assessments for proposed rules, agencies are heavily dependent upon the regulated entities for information about compliance costs. Knowing that the agencies are less likely to impose regulatory options with high price tags (or to support them during the review process), the regulatees have every incentive to err on the high side. Beneficiary groups can complain about the magnitude of cost projections, but they rarely have the wherewithal to second-guess regulatee-generated estimates. The only entities with both the economic incentive to exert a leavening influence and the information and expertise necessary to back it up are the occasional independent vendors of the safety and environmental cleanup technologies. …
Can Protecting Human Health and the Environment Be Justified on Cost-Benefit Grounds?
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Dec 1, 1997
Cost‐benefit analysis, to be accurate, should eliminate externalities and reach out to measure al... more Cost‐benefit analysis, to be accurate, should eliminate externalities and reach out to measure all costs and all benefits associated with a pending program. Clearly, any policy to protect human health and the environment should have more advantages than disadvantages. How these costs and benefits are counted and what is counted are key. The cost‐benefit debate can not be ignored. The benefits to workers; to the community; to local, state, and federal government; and often to the business community as well nearly always exceed costs. The full impact of an individual's death or disabilities can be staggering. It is important to build models and data bases to make the full costs and benefits clear to decision makers and to present these full costs and benefits in academically sound and analytically rigorous ways.Dictionary definitions of cost focus not on dollars, but on sacrifice, distress, pain, and suffering. Likewise, definitions of benefits focus on value and welfare.Cost‐benefit analysis should be changed in two majors ways: (1) how measurements are made and (2) the paradigms used to make measurements.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Apr 1, 1981
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) took an important step forward in januar... more The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) took an important step forward in january by issuing a "generic" cancer policy.' This innovative approach to control of carcinogens improves the agency's ability to carry out at least two high-priority goals: (1) to assure a healthful workplace for all working men and women; and (2) to promote a "common sense" approach to regulation. In this paper we will briefly discuss some of the benefits expected from the cancer policy-benefits to workers, to management, and to government efficiency and effectiveness. We also will discuss some of the things that the cancer policy will not do-either because it is not designed to do them or because current scientific knowledge is not yet able to provide adequate technical support. THE NEED FOR A GENERIC CANCER POLICY AS A FRAMEWORK FOR REGULATORY ACTIVITY It is estimated that several thousand potential carcinogens exist in America's workplaces. A regulatory process to control worker exposure to this vast number of substances clearly requires a carefully developed and systematic approach. OSHA's regulatory process, which, in the past, has utilized substance-by-substance review, consumes a great deal of time and human resources. In the 9 years of OSHA's existence, the agency has been able to issue final regulations at an average rate of only about two per year. At this rate, the task of eliminating exposure to carcinogens would be impossible at any time in the near future. As the preamble to the cancer policy states, ".. . to follow the past system and procedure for each and every individual substance and hazard would b e. .. beyond the abilities of any agency, no matter how large a staff it may have"' (p. 5013). The proposed cancer policy, published by OSHA in 1977, provided leadership throughout the regulatory community. Other regulatory agencies have undertaken similar action since then. The final policy provides criteria for OSHA and the public for conducting future regulatory Ruth Ruttenberg was a Senior Economist in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Washington, D.C. Eula Bingham was Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health and head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Washington, D.C. and is now at the University of Cincinnati.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Aug 5, 2019
Background: Annual health and safety refresher training is mandated for workers in a number of em... more Background: Annual health and safety refresher training is mandated for workers in a number of employment sectors and also is used to maintain and enhance skills when not legally required. Methods: One year following training, hazardous waste worker training participants were asked if the training had been applied at their work or in the community, corresponding to Kirkpatrick levels of training evaluation. Likely response themes were drafted by the authors using qualitative data coding. Results: Of the 1,726 refresher participants, 1,094 (63%) provided an entry. Eight theme categories were adapted from the originals, spanning the activities trainees reported as applications of their training: events, actions, awareness, emergency response, equipment, planning and standard operating procedures, training, and use of written resources. Conclusions: Asking participants to reflect on how training has been applied provides an opportunity to describe workplace changes made during the past year.
Social Science Research Network, 2011
Founded in 2002, the Center for Progressive Reform is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and educatio... more Founded in 2002, the Center for Progressive Reform is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and educational organization comprising a network of scholars across the nation dedicated to protecting health, safety, and the environment through analysis and commentary. CPR believes sensible safeguards in these areas serve important shared values, including doing the best we can to prevent harm to people and the environment, distributing environmental harms and benefits fairly, and protecting the earth for future generations. CPR rejects the view that the economic efficiency of private markets should be the only value used to guide government action. Rather, CPR supports thoughtful government action and reform to advance the well-being of human life and the environment. Additionally, CPR believes people play a crucial role in ensuring both private and public sector decisions that result in improved protection of consumers, public health and safety, and the environment. Accordingly, CPR supports ready public access to the courts, enhanced public participation, and improved public access to information. CPR is grateful to the Public Welfare Foundation for funding this white paper.
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Aug 1, 1986
Guidance document available for developers and users in hazardous waste cleanup technologies to minimize occupational hazards to workers
In evaluating innovative technologies for hazardous waste cleanup, work safety and health issues ... more In evaluating innovative technologies for hazardous waste cleanup, work safety and health issues are rarely considered. In two 1995 technical workshops, co-sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the US Department of Energy (DOE), dozens of experts from government, labor, industry, and academia gathered to write a Guidance Document to be used by the developers and users of innovative cleanup technology. The Guidance Document, which was developed by NIEHS, DOE, and a team of experts, recommends tools to package safety and health information in usable forms--including safety hazard matrices, health hazard matrices, transition check lists, and technology safety data sheets--as well as the need for checklists and contract clauses between remediation companies and responsible parties. Also included in the Guidance Document is a model for phase analysis with a list of the hazards associated with each phase of technological development and implement...
Fatigue Related to On-Line Training
Archives of Business Research
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Current Status and Future Needs of Rail Workers and Community Members
In-depth quality training for rail workers and community members is essential for saving lives an... more In-depth quality training for rail workers and community members is essential for saving lives and health. It is currently inadequate. Just one 90-ton rail car of chlorine, whether involved in an accident or act of terrorism, could create a toxic cloud 40 miles long and 10 miles wide and could kill as many as 100,000 people in 30 minutes. One estimate of a worst case scenario for a nuclear transportation accident in an urban area could cost--- in cleanup, evacuation, and business loss – from several billion to several tens of billions of dollars. Railroads in the United States transport 1.8 million shipments of hazardous materials every year, using 100,000 tank cars, filled with such chemicals as chlorine, anhydrous ammonia, cyanide compounds, flammable liquids and pesticides. The result is one million tons of hazardous material being moving across the nation daily. Every day tank cars filled with hazardous materials travel by homes, schools, and hospitals, and through the middle of...
Counting the Cost of Health, Safety, and Environmental Regulation
Texas Law Review, 2002
"While EPA devotes substantial resources to cost-benefit analyses when developing new regula... more "While EPA devotes substantial resources to cost-benefit analyses when developing new regulations, the agency seldom looks back at the actual costs and benefits after those regulations have been implemented."1 "How is my career going to be advanced by doing a study that shows that three years ago the agency made a wrong prediction? It is not in my best interest."2 I. Introduction In an article aptly titled Regulatory Costs of Mythic Proportions, Professor Lisa Heinzerling demonstrated that tables purporting to display the cost-per-life-saved of dozens of regulatory interventions are based upon erroneous and often outrageous assumptions.3 Yet legal scholars and other policy analysts, for lack of any better source of information, routinely incorporate these tables (a form of "urban legend," in Professor Heinzerling's view) into critiques of existing regulatory programs as if they were based upon hard empirical data.4 Professor Heinzerling's analyses have focused primarily upon the denominator of the cost-per-life-saved ratio in these tables.5 She has rather convincingly demonstrated that many regulatory interventions that appear to be wildly expensive when viewed from this perspective were probably not so costly because the number used in the denominator seriously underestimated the benefits of the regulations. In examining the numerator, Professor Heinzerling came to the surprising, but IMAGE FORMULA8 revealing conclusion that more than half of the regulations portrayed in the most frequently cited tables did not cost society anything at all because they never went into effect.7 This modest bit of empirical analysis (simply observing the extent to which the agency actually finalized the proposals portrayed in the tables) rather thoroughly undermined seemingly daunting numbers that were not empirically supported. The tables were impressive, but they did not reflect reality.8 This Article will focus exclusively on the empirical basis for cost assessments that go into regulatory impact analyses for major rules and that provide the basis for broad statements about the burden that federal health, safety, and environmental regulation imposes on the economy. We propose to carry Professor Heinzerling's analysis a step further by examining the extent to which the predicted costs of proposals that have gone into effect match the actual costs incurred by the regulated entities.9 At the same time, we will probe the empirical basis for several influential assessments of the burden of health, safety, and environmental regulation on the private sector. Like the cost-per-life-saved tables, many of these broad assessments are based largely upon ex ante predictions, highly ambitious assumptions, and very little empirical analysis of the actual costs that regulatees have incurred in complying with particular regulations. In undertaking this exercise, we have come to two broad conclusions, one of which is not at all surprising and the other of which is somewhat disturbing. The first broad conclusion is that ex ante cost estimates have usually been high, sometimes by orders of magnitude, when compared to actual costs incurred. This conclusion is not at all surprising in light of the strategic environment in which the predictions are generated. In preparing regulatory impact assessments for proposed rules, agencies are heavily dependent upon the regulated entities for information about compliance costs. Knowing that the agencies are less likely to impose regulatory options with high price tags (or to support them during the review process), the regulatees have every incentive to err on the high side. Beneficiary groups can complain about the magnitude of cost projections, but they rarely have the wherewithal to second-guess regulatee-generated estimates. The only entities with both the economic incentive to exert a leavening influence and the information and expertise necessary to back it up are the occasional independent vendors of the safety and environmental cleanup technologies. …
Thousands of railroad maintenance-of-way (MOW) workers develop cancer from their work. Objective:... more Thousands of railroad maintenance-of-way (MOW) workers develop cancer from their work. Objective: This study calculates the social and economic burdens of cancer borne by MOW workers. Methods: Economic calculations are derived from the literature and also from a survey of 4,800 MOW respondents, 155 in-depth interviews, and two focus groups. Results: This one health problem alone costs at least $226 million to $305 million over the course of cancer cases currently diagnosed among MOW workers. Conclusion: When a worker has cancer, beyond pain and suffering, there are often financial burdens that affect families, railroad companies, insurers, communities, and taxpayers as well as the injured workers.
NEW SOLUTIONS: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, 2018
This study of Afton Chemical Corporation’s Sauget facility and its International Chemical Workers... more This study of Afton Chemical Corporation’s Sauget facility and its International Chemical Workers Union Council (ICWUC) Local 871C demonstrates how significant safety improvements can be made when committed leadership from both management and union work together, build trust, train the entire work force in U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration 10-hour classes, and communicate with their work force, both salaried and hourly. A key finding is that listening to the workers closest to production can lead to solutions, many of them more cost-efficient than top-down decision-making. Another is that making safety and health an authentic value is hard work, requiring time, money, and commitment. Third, union and management must both have leadership willing to take chances and learn to trust one another. Fourth, training must be for everyone and ongoing. Finally, health and safety improvements require dedicated funding. The result was resolution of more than one hundred safety c...
NEW SOLUTIONS: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, 2020
Introduction of facilitated hands-on drills as often as monthly and the use of online modules pri... more Introduction of facilitated hands-on drills as often as monthly and the use of online modules prior to annual refresher training for emergency response teams were investigated through surveys and group discussions. This research explores how these drills are perceived by emergency response team members, emergency response team coordinators, instructors, and management at the company. Using these tools throughout the year, members of emergency response teams from automobile manufacturing facilities reported an increased ability to maintain their skill sets, build teamwork, and continually refresh and strengthen their ability to protect their fellow workers as well as plant operations and equipment. The results also document examples of how this innovative program that incorporates frequent training has led to workplace improvements.
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Papers by Ruth Ruttenberg