OSHA says it expects to publish a suite of new and updated heat stress-prevention products in the coming months, with outreach targeted at minority and non-English-speaking workers, while aiming to release additional materials later this year based on feedback from a new advisory panel.
November 15, 2026
Members of an OSHA advisory panel are expressing support for the agency’s preliminary plans to begin incorporating broad risk-based safety frameworks in its guidance documents and rulemakings, but are cautioning officials to first conduct outreach to inform employers about the new model before developing enforcement materials.
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The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has released a slew of new research on the effectiveness of workplace COVID-19 controls, including those related to masking and distancing, with advice that could bolster the case for tough new safety measures in OSHA’s permanent COVID-19 standard for the healthcare sector.
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OSHA head Doug Parker says the agency is not formally withdrawing its COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) for the healthcare sector but will not enforce the rule while a union-led lawsuit plays out, spurring outrage from labor advocates who are urging the agency to ramp up protections and implement a permanent standard for healthcare workers.
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Employers’ attorneys say OSHA’s recent COVID-19 enforcement action against an Ohio auto parts supplier includes several suggested mitigation steps that “should be gravely concerning to employers,” arguing that many safeguards the agency is saying are necessary to avoid citations are either impractical or outside its OSH Act authority to require.
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OSHA’s deputy director of standards and guidance says the agency’s push to promulgate a final COVID-19 standard for the healthcare sector in “six to nine months” will likely alter the timeline for some related rulemakings it outlined in the fall unified agenda, including both its proposed workplace violence and infectious disease standards for the industry.
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Environmentalists are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to “act now” to expand its chemical facility safety rule, particularly to include ammonium nitrate, arguing that a recent fire at a North Carolina fertilizer plant serves as a “wake up call” for the need to bolster protections against future disasters.
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OSHA is proposing the first update since 1998 to its safety standard for industrial powered trucks, aiming to align design and manufacturing requirements with modern consensus standards as part of a broader effort to revamp a slew of outdated regulations, including a provision that would allow it to use guidance rather than rulemaking for future updates.
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Chemical industry sources say OSHA has been “dismissive” of their concerns over its controversial proposal to add new data requirements for downstream chemical uses to its updated Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), and are not ruling out legal action if the agency proceeds with the rule as proposed.
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California could become the first state to mandate COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment for all public and private sector workers under a newly proposed bill that its sponsor says aims to fill the gap left by the Supreme Court’s Jan. 13 decision to stay federal OSHA’s vaccine-or-testing emergency standard for large employers.
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