A divided appellate panel has ordered EPA to propose updates to its 2001 lead dust hazard standard within 90 days, and take final action no later than a year after that, backing environmentalists' calls for a revised standard, which could prompt greater protections for workers conducting renovation and repair work in buildings with lead based paint.
September 17, 2026
A former Obama OSHA official and labor groups are faulting the Trump administration's rationale in its fall regulatory plan for scaling back the agency's May 2016 worker injury and illness reporting rule, calling the reasoning “suspicious,” and arguing the Trump Labor Department (DOL) is reaching for ways to undercut rules based on broad public input.
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Construction industry groups are charging that OSHA has taken “an erroneous view” of the Chevron legal doctrine that grants agencies deference to interpret vague statutes, and suggesting the case -- in which the agency is seeking to preserve its enforcement authority -- could tee up Supreme Court review of whether such deference is consistent with federal law.
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A construction company is urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to uphold an Administrative Law Judge's (ALJ) ruling curtailing OSHA’s multi-employer enforcement policy, arguing in its response brief that the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act and the court's precedents do not support liability for so-called controlling employers.
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State regulators are backing a key argument in environmentalists’ lawsuit challenging Trump EPA rules for reviewing existing chemicals under the revised toxics law, telling EPA in comments it must address all chemical uses, including those blamed for harms to workers, when assessing chemicals' risks for possible future regulation.
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Top Democrats are warning that a member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) who recently joined a majority decision to reverse the board's Obama-era ruling that expanded OSHA enforcement by broadening the definition of a “joint employer” had a potential conflict of interest, signaling a continuing challenge to the decision.
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An industry attorney says that a recent OSHA settlement with a New York recycling company resolving violations of the agency's bloodborne pathogens standard suggests the agency is expanding its interpretation of the standard despite the Trump OSHA's shelving Obama-era plans for a rule bolstering protections against the risk.
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An industry attorney expects that the Trump EPA's proposed rule revising the agency's Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility accident prevention program with new requirements will completely undercut the already-delayed Obama-era rule, restoring the prior standard and realigning RMP with OSHA's Process Safety Management (PSM) rule.
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Rejecting a set of industry challenges, a federal appellate court has largely upheld the Obama OSHA's March 2016 final rule updating limits for exposure to silica for the first time in more than 40 years, though the court granted unions' request to remand a portion of the rule to strengthen provisions governing already-exposed workers.
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A just-announced settlement agreement between OSHA and a Kansas grain company underscores Trump administration efforts to ease enforcement and encourage compliance, an industry source says, after the agency agreed to reduce its classifications of the company's citations and accept lesser penalties.
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A federal appellate court has reversed an Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) decision that subjected a New York aggregates company to Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules, backing the Obama Labor Department's (DOL) determination that OSHA has authority over such milling plants.
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OSHA says it is looking to address the opioid crisis as a workplace issue in response to a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 2016 job fatality report that showed a 32 percent annual increase in workplace fatalities from overdoses in 2016, and noted a 7 percent increase in annual workplace fatalities overall, the third such increase and the highest since 2008.
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OSHA has again delayed its deadline for employers to submit worker injury and illness data under the Obama administration's controversial reporting rule, giving employers an additional two weeks to submit data, as an industry attorney is raising concerns that the rule's requirements for reporting of temporary workers' injuries are unclear.
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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has reversed its controversial 2015 ruling that broadened the definition of “joint employer,” a decision that an industry attorney says could inform future OSHA enforcement policy, though Republican lawmakers say they will continue to pursue a bill to codify the decision's effect.
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After voting along party lines against Scott Mugno's confirmation to lead OSHA, Senate Democrats are leaving the door open to working with the nominee if and when he is confirmed -- though they are setting a high bar for cooperation, signaling they expect Mugno to take tough action against violators, a stance at odds with the Trump deregulatory agenda.
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Touting successful efforts to repeal dozens of rules from EPA, OSHA and other agencies in 2017, President Donald Trump and other top officials are pledging to step up such efforts in 2018, including calling for agencies to repeal three existing rules for every new measure issued, rather than the current two-for-one requirement.
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The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee (HELP) has approved the Trump administration's nomination of Scott Mugno, the FedEx safety executive, to lead OSHA on a party-line vote Dec. 13, clearing the way for a Senate floor debate.
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Citing safety and other concerns, labor groups are intensifying their opposition to a poultry industry request to roll back Obama-era rules limiting line speeds at processing facilities, renewing legal charges that any regulatory easing would violate Agriculture Department (USDA) rules and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
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An animal welfare group is petitioning the Agriculture Department (USDA) for stricter oversight on handling and slaughtering requirements in the poultry industry, an effort that could gain new credence after a government watchdog raised concerns over the sector's safety and could also undercut an industry petition seeking to speed processing times.
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The poultry industry is downplaying a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that urged OSHA and other agencies to step up scrutiny of worker safety in the sector but nevertheless indicated it would continue to make improvements in its safety practices.
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