Should response workers rely on the Government's and BP's idea of safety? Or, should a response worker be allowed to wear a respirator in those situations where the worker, but not government or industry, believes the respirator is needed? The U.S. Government's "Guidance" for protecting the BP disaster workers is defective. It contains a defect regarding voluntary worker use of respirators. The guidelines assume an individual worker is wrong in wanting a health-protective respirator in situations others decide there's no inhalation hazard.

The "Guidance" says an employer "may" (not "should", not "shall) permit voluntary respiratory protection.

How quickly the government forgets the effects of bad risk analysis and safety decisions. Failure to encourage additional safety judgment of the workers on the job got us to this problem in the first place!

Reliance on the government's and BP's idea of safety is a mindset echoed by the Texas Attorney General in the 2 weeks after the Gulf disaster. On May 3, AG Greg Abbott held a press conference announcing BP, as of May 3, had made "all the right actions and all the right comments".

Now, the government admits studies on adverse health effects from oil spills, based on oil tanker disaster "may underestimate the health effects associated with the Deepwater Horizon."

The Government has conceded the "unprecedented" magnitude and duration of the response. And, the Guidance is clear: the Government has "incomplete understanding" about human health toxicity from large amounts of dispersant, mixture of large amounts of crude oil, combustion products and dispersants and cumulative effects over time. The bottom line on human health toxicity, written even as more oil spills from the site: knowledge is "incomplete and still evolving." As new oil still spills and requires response, the Government and BP should acknowledge: companies can make mistakes in risk assessment. The worker on site who seeks additional safeguards may be right, instead of the government and industry deciding no risk. Instead, the government proposes to provide "odor reducing" but not "health protective" respirators as the "only situation where voluntary use may be helpful."

Workers should be allowed to wear protective respirators and not be denied the ability to protect their health by BP or our government.  Please join me in signing this petition to encourage President Obama to prevent BP from making health decisions for the workers who are cleaning up their mess.