Texas City Blast, Motorcoach Safety to Get Congressional Airing
Two of the bigger safety stories of the past three years are involved in congressional hearings set for this week. Committees of Congress typically offer their hearings as live webcasts these days, so safety professionals with time available might find it useful to visit the two committees' sites via links at www.house.gov to hear the proceedings.
First up is the House Transportation Subcommittee on Highways and Transit with a hearing on motorcoach safety on Tuesday, March 20, at 10 a.m. Eastern; visit http://transportation.house.gov/ for a live webcast. This hearing stems from the bus fire near Dallas that killed 23 elderly nursing home residents as they were being evacuated ahead of Hurricane Rita's landfall in 2005, as well as NTSB recommendations issued after it investigated the incident.
The second hearing will be before the full House Education and Labor Committee on Thursday, March 22, on the BP Texas City refinery explosion, which prompted a record OSHA fine. This hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., as well. Visit http://edworkforce.house.gov to hear it.