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Finance Committee Senators: Reform Bill Trimmed To Less Than $1 Trillion
Some senators on the Finance Committee said Thursday they"ve moved closer to cutting their health reform bill"s cost to under $1 trillion.

UPMC Sports Medicine Urges Sedentary, Over-40 Adults To Enroll In 'Start' Fitness Program
Start, a lifestyle-changing fitness program at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine, currently is enrolling adults over age 40 for its summer session. Beginning July 18, sports medicine professionals will guide participants through fitness and education sessions twice weekly for three months, preparing them to run or walk the 5K portion of the Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race on Sept. 27.
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President Obama Reverses Bush Policy Preventing Consumers From Suing Product Makers In State Courts
President Obama on Wednesday ordered federal agencies to rescind regulations enacted by former President George W. Bush"s administration that protect manufacturers of such products as medical devices from product-liability lawsuits in state court, the Wall Street Journal reports. The decision could affect a wide range of manufacturers and products because the Bush administration "aggressively" encouraged federal agencies to make rules that pre-empt and override state laws, which often meant protecting manufacturers of medical equipment from lawsuits, according to the Journal. Obama in a two-page memo wrote that federal agencies and departments could claim state law is pre-empted by federal law only when there is a well-defined legal basis. The memo stated that state laws are important because they supplement federal regulations. "State and local governments have frequently protected health, safety and environment more aggressively than has the national government," Obama wrote (Mundy/Kendall, Wall Street Journal, 5/21). Obama ordered agencies to review regulations from the past decade and look for possible occasions in which the government improperly declared federal pre-emption (Yost, AP/Kansas City Star, 5/20). According to the Journal, business groups oppose the decision (Wall Street Journal, 5/21).
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Small Companies Warned To Take Health And Safety Responsibilities Seriously After Roofer's Death, UK

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned small companies to take their responsibilities seriously, after a man fell through the roof of a DIY superstore in Wigan and later died. David Battisson from CRN Contracts Ltd in Birkenhead (formerly Concrete Repairs NW Ltd) was working on the roof of The Range store when he fell ten metres to the floor through a PVC light. The 49-year-old was taken to the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan, where he died from his injuries. HSE prosecuted CRN Contracts Ltd for failing to follow proper safety procedures. The company pleaded guilty to two charges under health and safety legislation, and was fined ÷£25,000 and ordered to pay costs of ÷£14,086 at Manchester Crown Court, Minshull Street, on 23 July 2009. CRN Contracts Ltd was charged with having contravened Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and Section 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The court heard that Mr Battisson and a colleague were applying anti-corrosion paint to the bolts on the corrugated roof of The Range superstore on 27 May 2005 when the incident happened. HSE Inspector Warren Pennington said: "It"s shocking that basic health and safety procedures weren"t followed and extremely sad that, ultimately, it led to a man"s death. "CRN Contracts Ltd did not provide adequate supervision of the work. It should have used boards to cover the fragile roof lights, and protected the area around the perimeter of the roof. The company also failed to cordon off the floor under the section of roof it was working on to protect the public from the work. "Roof maintenance can be extremely dangerous if proper health and safety rules aren"t followed. I hope this case will help to remind people that it"s simply not worth taking risks." Notes 1. Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: "Every employer shall ensure that work at height is properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner which is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe." 2. Section 3 of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety." Health and Safety Executive


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