Daily News

OSHA is urging a federal court to reject an industry lawsuit seeking to block anti-retaliation provisions of the agency's new injury and illness record-keeping and reporting rule, claiming broad statutory authority and discretion to ensure accurate reporting of worker injuries, and that the industry lawsuit is unlikely to succeed.

Local officials from a California county where numerous industrial facility accidents have occurred in recent years are urging OSHA to strengthen its facility worker safety program by covering additional substances and hazards, and adding requirements for facilities to conduct new analyses and emergency drills.

Chemical and petroleum industry groups are urging OSHA to halt or minimize potential revisions to its process safety management (PSM) rule, raising new arguments that the agency lacks statutory authority for some possible changes, while urging officials to streamline any new requirements with upcoming EPA rules.

An industry attorney expects that OSHA will soon begin a national or at least regional emphasis program targeting enforcement against industries that the agency deems pose significant hazards to temporary workers, calling such a program an expected progression of the agency's recent focus on protecting temporary workers on job sites.

The Center for Progressive Reform (CPR), a group that advocates for strict health and safety protections, is renewing long-standing calls for OSHA to issue a national standard to protect workers from heat-related injuries and death, an effort that will likely take shape in the next administration.

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) in a new report is touting the benefits of preventive inspections at petroleum refineries to prevent accidents and worker injuries, a finding that bolsters pending efforts by EPA and OSHA to strengthen their facility safety rules with new requirements for independent audits.

OSHA has sent for White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review a draft final rule instituting new procedures for investigating complaints of retaliation against whistleblowers in the health care sector, a responsibility the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) delegated to the agency.

Industry and health advocates are at odds over what exposure methods EPA should use under the new federal toxics law to assess exposures to industrial chemicals, with industry urging the agency to use the “sentinel” approach that OSHA uses while environmentalists say they favor an “aggregate” approach that better reflects real-world risks.

EPA is seeking input on how to implement a directive in the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for using either “sentinel” or “aggregate” exposures to evaluate chemicals' safety.

A magistrate judge is recommending that a federal court limit OSHA's authority to inspect a poultry facility to circumstances surrounding a specific injury, potentially undercutting stepped up efforts by the agency and advocates to increase oversight over the sector.

OSHA has cited a New Jersey chemical facility for serious violations of its current Process Safety Management (PSM) regulations, including record-keeping and auditing violations, underscoring the agency's ongoing effort to strengthen its facility worker safety program under President Obama's executive order on improving industrial plant safety.

EPA has sent for White House review a proposed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) section 6 rule to ban or restrict the sales or manufacture of trichloroethylene (TCE) to better protect workers and others, the first attempt by the agency to use the section to restrict a chemical since its failed effort to ban asbestos in 1991.

The agency submitted the TSCA Section 6(a) rule, seeking to ban or restrict certain uses of the halogenated solvent TCE, for White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review July 27, according to OMB's website.

As EPA prepares to submit its final facility accident prevention rule for White House review, the agency is facing stepped-up calls from Republican attorneys general and some industry officials to withdraw the pending measure and overhaul it to ensure it will not exacerbate risks of terrorist attacks on industrial facilities.

A federal panel advising OSHA on how potential changes to the agency's facility worker protection rule might affect small businesses is opposing any agency mandate that facilities use strict safety measures, known as inherently safer technologies (IST), usually alternative chemicals or processes, and calling for additional analyses prior to any proposal.

OSHA has eased a controversial policy issued last year for determining whether a chemical is present in sufficient concentrations to warrant regulating a facility under the agency's process safety management (PSM) rule, after a legal settlement with the chemical industry that excludes hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid from the policy and postpones enforcement.

Industry plaintiffs challenging OSHA's new worker injury reporting rule are planning to expand their lawsuit to oppose the rule's reporting requirements in addition to seeking to block anti-retaliation provisions, an industry attorney says, adding that those retaliation provisions are ripe for claims they are interpretation or guidance rather than rule.

A law firm that frequently represents industry clients is warning that a recently proposed rule that seeks to align EPA requirements for new uses of industrial chemicals with strict OSHA measures may be at odds with the recently enacted Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that took effect earlier this year.

EPA's Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) is urging the agency to bolster proposed revisions to its facility accident prevention program to ensure citizens and first responders know the chemical hazards in their communities and how to respond to a release, backing advocates' criticism that the proposal does not go far enough to improve disclosure.

Appeals court judges have approved requests from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and cement producers to intervene in the complex litigation challenging OSHA's final rule strengthening its silica standards, despite labor union opposition that the groups' involvement would inappropriately expand issues in the case.

EPA has issued its first regulatory determinations under the reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), finding that four new chemicals are “not likely to present an unreasonable risk” to workers, the first set of affirmative safety findings the agency must now make before new substances may enter the marketplace under the new law.

The agency late last week posted to its website safety determinations for four new chemicals under section 5 of TSCA, which governs new chemicals -- those that are proposed after the law's enactment -- or those with significant new uses.

OSHA and the New York State Workers' Compensation Board have reached an agreement to improve investigations and share data on workplace violations, signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that appears to advance OSHA's goal of better using data to promote compliance with labor laws given limited resources for inspections.