OSHA Sampling Data Still Unavailable

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is still not making available a huge trove of sampling data on toxics in the workplace.

The data include some 3 million air and wipe samples from some 75,000 plant locations. Former OSHA official Adam Finkel requested the data under the Freedom of Information Act in 2005, but was denied. He sued OSHA, and in 2007, he won. Now Finkel has the data, but OSHA has not rushed to give the data to the public at large. An agency spokesperson says OSHA is still considering releasing the data.

• "OSHA Workplace Samples: Millions of Records Out of Reach," Sunlight Foundation, February 12, 2010, by Jim Morris.