Tomorrow afternoon, Congress will once again take up new legislative proposals to improve coal mine safety. After decades of repeated mining disasters, countless unnecessary deaths and injuries, and continual demands for remedial action, can Congress finally get mining safety legislation right? The outward signs are not encouraging.

During Wednesday’s House hearing on health and safety for oil rig and cleanup workers, Doug Slitor, the director of MMS (the incompetent, scandal-plagued agency in charge of offshore drilling) let loose a remarkable piece of information that reveals the true extent to which MMS is bought and sold by Big Oil.

Slitor told Rep. George Miller that the rules that are supposed to protect the health and safety of oil rig workers were designed 15 years ago by the American Petroleum Institute – the industry and lobbying group for major oil and gas companies. The worst part? Even those regulations are considered “voluntary.”

Today the House EdLabor Committee, chaired by Rep. George Miller, is hosting a hearing called “Worker Health and Safety from the Oil Rig to Shoreline.” The hearing will explore what protections are in place for oil rig workers, what went wrong on the Deepwater Horizon, and how to protect cleanup workers in the Gulf Coast for BP’s oil disaster.

Some good news out of Congress about protecting workers involved in the BP oil disaster, as well as offshore oil workers. Rep. George Miller’s House Committee on Education and Labor will hold a hearing on oil worker safety on Wednesday.

Rep. George Miller released the list of the 48 most dangerous mines in America. These are the mines that have the most outstanding health and safety violations contested by the mine owners. Had the mines not contested these penalties, they likely would receive “pattern of violation” notices that would accelerate the Mine Safety and Health [...]

Pat Garofalo at Think Progress’ Wonk Room, one of the best blogs covering issues at work, paid attention to yesterday’s hearings on paid sick leave in the House. Of particular concern was big business’ blatant indifference to the risks of spreading H1N1 simply because workers can’t afford to stay home if they’re sick.