The House Education and Workforce Committee has advanced legislation along party lines to codify OSHA’s longstanding Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), with Republicans touting the bill’s ability to save OSHA resources and taxpayer dollars but Democrats arguing the bill will do little to actually protect workers.
September 16, 2026
California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board is partially granting two petitions seeking review of separate worker-safety rules covering residential construction worker falls and bird flu exposure, though they are rejecting requests by the petitioners for emergency standards to address their concerns.
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OSHA is extending by 30 days the deadline for stakeholders to provide additional comments on the Biden-era proposed heat injury and illness standard after an industry coalition said it needed more time to adequately respond to questions from the agency following an informal public hearing.
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A recent landmark ruling from the 6th Circuit analyzing what constitutes “substantially the same” under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) opens the door for a future Democratic administration to issue new OSHA ergonomics rules after Congress killed a Clinton-era regulation in 2001, administrative law experts say.
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West Virginia coal miners and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are continuing to spar over litigation challenging staffing cuts at a key federal workplace safety agency, with HHS renewing a motion to dismiss the case and the miners urging a federal court to again reject the department’s arguments.
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The Labor Department (DOL) is arguing that a New Jersey steel company’s attempt to preserve constitutional and statutory claims against the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) “fails to establish actual success on the merits for any of its claims,” and therefore the case should be dismissed.
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The Trump EPA’s recent 180-degree reversal on its initial plan to rescind the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out six uses of chrysotile asbestos and instead issue new worker protection guidance on the 2024 rule, came after Administrator Lee Zeldin overruled two other senior Trump EPA appointees, a source with knowledge of the internal matter says.
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House appropriators are outlining their priorities for funding to address workplace safety and health issues, highlighting concerns about drug overdoses, mining issues, firefighting-related cancer and health issues for vehicle mechanics, with many of their recommendations focused on the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
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The full House Appropriations Committee has approved a fiscal year 2026 spending bill that slashes the budgets for OSHA, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), though it is not clear if the cuts will survive upcoming budget negotiations.
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California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board is slated to consider at its meeting later this month two petitions that board staff are proposing to mostly reject -- one to delay implementation of federal rules to protect residential construction workers from falls, and the other to expand a standard to protect dairy and poultry workers from bird flu.
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OSHA has renewed voluntary worker safety information agreements with solid waste and recycling trade groups as part of its Alliance Program, highlighting a range of areas where the participants will serve as “information intermediaries” aiding the agency in its outreach efforts.
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A coalition of labor unions, a nonprofit organization and a personal protective equipment manufacturer are pushing back on Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) efforts to dismiss litigation over cuts to a federal worker safety agency, defending the members’ standing to bring the suit and the specific claims they make.
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Despite Senate pressure to quickly propose a workplace-violence standard, OSHA says in its latest Unified Agenda of regulatory actions that a proposal date is “to be determined,” and the agency is also not committing to a timeline for finalizing a heat injury and illness standard, though it is still looking to do so.
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A House appropriations panel has advanced a fiscal year 2026 spending bill that includes the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), although it contains a smaller-than-requested reduction to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
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Several key worker-safety bills in the California Legislature are advancing for imminent floor votes, while others -- including one that would have required a study on Cal/OSHA’s chronic staff-vacancy problems -- have stalled for the year.
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California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) is contemplating new actions to reduce worker exposure to crystalline silica in the stone-fabrication sector -- in response to alarming increases in cases of silicosis, and deaths from the disease -- including stronger enforcement of safety rules and support for legislation requiring criminal charges against negligent shop owners.
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The Labor Department (DOL) is defending an OSHA citation that ExxonMobil failed to properly record the mental health diagnosis of an employee following a December 2021 explosion and fire at the company’s Baytown, TX, complex, telling a federal appeals court the agency’s actions are clearly supported by the OSH Act.
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Pennsylvania coal mine operators and a former Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) attorney are criticizing the agency’s plan to curtail district managers’ authority to mandate roof-collapse prevention measures, with the operators raising concerns about the plan’s impacts and the attorney saying it misstates the purpose and process of roof control plans.
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking to dismiss litigation brought by labor unions and Democratic states that aims to halt massive staffing cuts at a federal worker-safety agency, arguing the plaintiffs lack standing and the courts lack jurisdiction to hear the claims.
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EPA is asking the 5th Circuit to grant another 90-day abeyance in legal challenges over the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out many uses of the common solvent perchloroethylene (PCE or perc) while it reconsiders workplace exposure limits in the rule, although EPA says it is “prepared to proceed” if the court denies its request.
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