A mining industry group is warning that a “fully functional” National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is vital to ensuring the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) can achieve the goals of its proposal to ease the process for using certain respirators in mines.
September 16, 2026
The National Construction Policy Institute (NCPI) is outlining legislative and regulatory changes it says are necessary to create a “fair, predictable, and legally defensible” framework for OSHA’s controversial multi-employer citation policy, arguing the agency’s current approach is “unsustainable.”
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A pair of recent court rulings has created procedural and constitutional uncertainty over the way OSHA adjudicates the majority of its whistleblower complaint docket, leading to possible inconsistent outcomes across cases in the short term and the potential for judicial and legislative changes to the process in the long term, legal experts say.
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South Carolina is urging the 4th Circuit to reinstate its litigation challenging OSHA’s requirement that states match annual increases to federal minimum and maximum OSH Act penalties, arguing a lower court erred in finding South Carolina’s Administrative Procedure Act (APA) claims were time-barred.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has vetoed a bill to bar employers from relying on automated decision-making systems (ADS) to make certain employment decisions -- including those aimed at aiding worker safety -- without human oversight, but signed a measure to reduce worker exposure to crystalline silica in the stone fabrication industry.
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The Senate’s confirmation earlier this month of Jonathan Snare to serve on the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) restores its ability to review administrative law judge (ALJ) decisions, although OSHRC still lacks a quorum to make decisions on cases sent for review.
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With the Senate’s recent confirmation of David Keeling as the head of OSHA, agency observers are outlining potential regulatory and enforcement changes under the Trump administration, including likely rollbacks of certain reporting requirements and other Biden-era priorities while possibly finalizing some version of a national heat standard.
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Industry and business groups are ramping up a campaign to convince California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to veto a labor-backed bill to bar employers from relying on automated decision-making systems (ADS) to make certain employment decisions -- including those aimed at aiding worker safety -- without human oversight.
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is renewing its bid to dismiss labor unions’ challenge to Trump administration cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), arguing the unions have failed to demonstrate any non-speculative harms to establish standing, even with an amended complaint.
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A first-time national study finds that hot temperatures are a significant risk factor for a wide array of workplace injuries beyond heat illness or heat stroke, although state heat illness-prevention standards appear to lessen the risk.
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The Senate has confirmed President Trump’s nomination of David Keeling to head OSHA and Wayne Palmer to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in a party-line vote on a package of more than 100 administration nominations for a range of positions across numerous federal agencies.
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The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is recommending steps states should take to bolster health and safety protections for workers to lock-in current federal protections and close gaps in areas OSHA does not regulate, arguing federal worker protections are under attack by the Trump administration.
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An employer advocacy group is heavily faulting California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) proposed first-time rules to protect workers from sliding and swinging gates at worksites, arguing the measures capture far too many small gates and go far beyond the breadth of coverage envisioned in a petition accepted by the agency to draft the new standards.
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Employers who face deadlines to contest OSHA citations during the government shutdown should file necessary documents on time even though the agency will be unable to review such challenges until it resumes normal operations, attorneys with the firm Conn Maciel Carey recommend.
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If there is a lapse in federal appropriations for the Labor Department (DOL), OSHA expects to furlough nearly three-quarters of its employees and be limited only to functions concerning matters “of emergencies involving the safety of human life or protection of property,” according to a DOL contingency plan.
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Mining industry groups are generally backing the goals of the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) proposal to allow use of electronic surveying equipment in high-hazard areas of underground coal mines under certain circumstances, but are urging some additional clarifications.
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is reiterating arguments that a pair of West Virginia coal miners lack standing to challenge staffing cuts at a key federal workplace safety agency, saying the plaintiffs’ attempt to seek standing in perpetuity is not appropriate under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
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ExxonMobil is arguing that OSHA’s defense in the company’s challenge to a citation for failing to properly record the mental health diagnosis of an employee does little to respond to the company’s legal claims and in fact only confirms the agency failed to meet due process and Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requirements.
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The Labor Department (DOL) is asking the D.C. Circuit to reverse several decisions from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC) that rejected the DOL secretary’s changes to health and safety citations in enforcement settlements with mining companies, arguing FMSHRC overstepped its authority.
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The Trump EPA is proposing to overhaul major portions of the Biden-era rule outlining how the agency evaluates chemical risks under TSCA including eliminating a requirement to make a single, “whole chemical” risk determination and revising how the agency will consider occupational exposure controls.
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