OSHA has finalized a year-old interim rule that set out procedures for handling whistleblower complaints under the 2019 Taxpayer First Act (TFA) that created anti-retaliation protections for employees who report potential tax fraud and other violations, largely adopting the model it set out in the interim measure.
November 15, 2026
Federal appellate judges appeared skeptical of claims that OSHA’s safety standard for crane assembly and disassembly should not apply to preparatory steps prior to dismantling the equipment during March 7 oral argument over a 2016 accident where a worker was seriously injured when a crane touched a live power line during that preliminary phase.
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OSHA is pushing back against an Office of Inspector General (OIG) report that faulted its handling of OSH Act complaints, including claims that officials do not adequately consider testimony from witnesses or complainants in enforcement, saying it is based on a third-party audit that used an unrepresentative sample and misunderstood the agency’s processes.
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The long-delayed challenge to OSHA’s Trump-era rollback of electronic recordkeeping mandates is set to move forward after a federal appeals court lifted its long-standing stay on the suit, backing safety advocates’ argument that the Biden administration’s repeated delays of a rule to reinstate the requirements undermine the rationale for pausing the case.
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Employer attorneys are raising alarms on OSHA’s quiet announcement that it plans to reinstate a controversial Obama-era policy known as the “Fairfax Memo” that allowed third parties such as union representatives to accompany OSHA officials on inspections -- even of non-union worksites.
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The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) has issued a pair of decisions that affirm OSHA’s approach to identifying heat dangers, scrapping an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) rulings that held its long-standing approach failed to show hazard to workers, but the panel is also setting a high bar for “feasible” abatement methods.
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South Carolina is pointing to OSHA’s latest inflation adjustment to enforcement penalties as fresh justification for its ongoing court challenge to the mandate for states to match those increases each year, saying the rulemaking repeats that directive and is ripe for judicial review.
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Unions, worker-safety groups, environmentalists and tribes are petitioning OSHA to strengthen its injury and illness reporting mandates for oil spill response workers, arguing that the sector should be carved out from broad exclusions for cold and flu to ensure that employers report symptoms of potentially serious chemical exposures that may “mimic” the viruses.
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The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) affirmed OSHA’s citation against Walmart for a violation of its safety standard for items stored “in tiers,” after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit overturned an earlier decision where the panel applied a narrower reading of the rule to say it did not apply to the retailer’s facility.
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OSHA has issued an interim final rule detailing new procedures for handling cases of alleged retaliation against whistleblowers who come forward about violations of antitrust law, introducing a process specific to the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act (CAARA) for the first time.
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