Max Baucus: “Washington bureaucrats are at it again. On February 9, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, otherwise…”

“Washington bureaucrats are at it again. On February 9, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, otherwise known as OSHA, will impose rules governing logging operations out in the woods. Now, logging can be hazardous and there are certain rules that do make sense and should be enforced to ensure that folks are not subjected to unnecessary risks. But people who work in the woods are not dummies. They know they do dangerous work, and they know which rules make sense and which ones do not. Unfortunately, the OSHA folks back here in Washington, DC, got carried away with their rulemaking because they issued a host of logging regulations that, I must tell you, simply defy common sense and they hurt the people who are trying to make a living rather than helping them. You can tell whoever wrote them works at a desk, probably in Washington, DC, and not with a chain saw. For example, these new regulations require loggers to wear foot protection that prevents penetration by chain saws. That means steel- toed kevlar boots. While requiring loggers to wear these boots sounds like a good, sensible rule, the fact is, it is not. As Montana loggers will tell you, steel-toed boots are impractical when it comes to steep terrain--and I can tell you, we have a lot of that--and in cold weather. We have some of that, too.…”