Former OSHA Chief John Henshaw is expert witness for asbestos defendant

Notwithstanding this, on November 6, 2006, OSHA threatened the author of the fact sheet, industrial hygienist Ira Wainless, with suspension for "failure to perform a comprehensive review of current research." The "current research" consisted mainly of re-analyses of earlier articles published in scientific journals, commissioned jointly by General Motors, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler, starting in 2001.

Line-item billing for Dr. Shannon Henshaw Gaffney’s services appeared 21 times on Chemrisk asbestos litigation bills to the Big Three in 2004, totaling around $10,000. John Henshaw’s daughter went to work at Chemrisk when she obtained her doctorate in environmental science in 2004.

Mr. Henshaw, who departed OSHA on Dec. 31, 2004, told his former subordinates at OSHA last August that there was a lot of litigation over asbestos and brake work, but he neglected to mention that he was involved in it as an expert witness for a leading defendant, Honeywell (Bendix brakes).

After publicity and inquiries from Congress, the OSHA bosses completely withdrew their threat against Mr. Wainless within weeks; they also decided to not retract or revise the fact sheet (A. Schneider, "Brakes warning remains/OSHA statement on asbestos exposure hazard survives challenge," Baltimore Sun, Dec. 17, 2006; E.G. Foulke, OSHA, letter to Rep. George Miller, Dec. 14, 2006).