OSHA is proposing to reinstate and codify a controversial Obama-era guidance allowing third parties such as union representatives to accompany agency officials on inspections even when they do not work for the employer under review, saying the expanded approach will bolster worker representation in OSH Act enforcement.
November 15, 2026
Labor and environmental groups are pressing EPA to tighten its proposed rule limiting industrial use of perchloroethylene (PCE) in part by banning more uses of the solvent or even phasing it out entirely, saying the agency is relying too much on personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect workers while also neglecting risks to fenceline communities.
Date:
A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit has rejected a suit claiming OSHA’s authority to issue permanent safety standards is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s non-delegation doctrine, but a dissent from the panel’s sole Trump appointee could preview continued litigation on the question, including a high court appeal.
Date:
OSHA has signed an enforcement settlement with the pharmacy giant Rite Aid that will require new worker protections against bloodborne pathogens at “approximately 370” stores in two states, after the agency found violations of that standard at a Niagara Falls, NY, location in 2022.
Date:
Charging their members are currently shut out of data that could be crucial to their safety, labor unions are urging EPA to require employers turn over a wide range of information on their TSCA new-chemical applications and compliance orders and are proposing a framework based on OSHA policies they say would protect confidential materials.
Date:
Industry groups are calling on EPA to rework its proposed TSCA rule for the solvent perchloroethylene (PCE) but are split on what approach it should adopt, with some seeking a more flexible policy under the chemicals law while at least one is pushing the agency to drop its worker-safety proposals and advance them through a joint rulemaking with OSHA.
Date:
A National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) peer-review panel has broadly endorsed EPA’s draft risk assessment of formaldehyde that adopted controversial research linking workplace exposures to the chemical with leukemia, potentially opening a door for rules based on those findings, but industry is challenging the review process in court.
Date:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has upheld OSHA’s enforcement citation for a 2016 accident where a crane being prepared for dismantling touched a live power line, rejecting the employer’s argument that safety standards for crane “disassembly” do not apply to preparatory steps leading up to taking the machine apart.
Date:
OSHA is proposing to formally require that construction employers ensure their personal protective equipment (PPE) fits workers, reviving an Obama-era plan that the agency originally advanced through the Standards Improvement Project (SIP) but dropped from that process when it drew industry opposition.
Date:
EPA has unveiled a proposed TSCA risk management rule for carbon tetrachloride (CTC or CCl4) that would allow uses that it says represent “essentially all” annual production of the solvent to continue indefinitely if facilities meet strict new worker protection mandates -- as well as a bar against increasing air emissions to surrounding communities.
Date: