Daily News

Trade groups, congressional Republicans and attorneys are outlining arguments against OSHA’s proposal allowing third parties to accompany compliance officers on inspections even when they do not work for the company involved, ranging from claims that it is legally invalid to calling it the result of “regulatory voodoo.”

The Biden administration is urging the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision that held administrative law judges (AJLs) are unconstitutional and instead affirm long-time practices at OSHA and other agencies of relying on ALJs to adjudicate administrative enforcement proceedings that seek civil penalties.

Trade groups and individual companies are starting to raise concerns on EPA’s draft supplement to the Trump-era TSCA evaluation of 1,4-dioxide, in particular an occupational exposure limit the agency quietly floated in early August, arguing in early comments that it may not be feasible along with several other broad concerns for the new review.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is calling on OSHA to improve how it investigates and records worker deaths in the oil and gas extraction (OGE) sector, saying the agency’s current practices and lack of a specific safety standard for OGE work have produced incomplete data as part of a report on fatalities in the industry.

OSHA has reached a company-wide enforcement settlement with the discount-retail giant Dollar Tree that includes regular inspections of its stores and an immediate $1.35 million penalty, following a years-long series of citations for what the agency repeatedly said was a persistent pattern of safety violations across the company.

A California state lawmaker is further scaling back his bill requiring employers to implement workplace violence-prevention plans in response to continued strong opposition from industry and employer groups, bringing its requirements closer to a pending draft regulatory proposal by California OSHA (Cal/OSHA), sources say.

OSHA is proposing to reinstate and codify a controversial Obama-era guidance allowing third parties such as union representatives to accompany agency officials on inspections even when they do not work for the employer under review, saying the expanded approach will bolster worker representation in OSH Act enforcement.

Labor and environmental groups are pressing EPA to tighten its proposed rule limiting industrial use of perchloroethylene (PCE) in part by banning more uses of the solvent or even phasing it out entirely, saying the agency is relying too much on personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect workers while also neglecting risks to fenceline communities.

A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit has rejected a suit claiming OSHA’s authority to issue permanent safety standards is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s non-delegation doctrine, but a dissent from the panel’s sole Trump appointee could preview continued litigation on the question, including a high court appeal.

A chemical-sector trade group is laying out ways facilities can maintain their current recordkeeping and security practices even after Congress allowed the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program to expire, saying companies still have options to continue many of its protections as they wait for a reauthorization vote.

Chemical industry groups are planning to resume their push to reauthorize the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard (CFATS) program as soon as Congress returns from its August recess, over a month after lawmakers allowed it to lapse in July -- and likely with a two-year term rather than the five-year extension initially proposed by Senate leaders.

OSHA has signed an enforcement settlement with the pharmacy giant Rite Aid that will require new worker protections against bloodborne pathogens at “approximately 370” stores in two states, after the agency found violations of that standard at a Niagara Falls, NY, location in 2022.

The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is urging chemical facility officers to prepare quickly for what could be more frequent and more powerful hurricanes and other extreme wind events in the future and this season in particular, pointing to two recent reports as evidence of the dangers several hurricanes can pose to the sites.

Charging their members are currently shut out of data that could be crucial to their safety, labor unions are urging EPA to require employers turn over a wide range of information on their TSCA new-chemical applications and compliance orders and are proposing a framework based on OSHA policies they say would protect confidential materials.

Industry groups are calling on EPA to rework its proposed TSCA rule for the solvent perchloroethylene (PCE) but are split on what approach it should adopt, with some seeking a more flexible policy under the chemicals law while at least one is pushing the agency to drop its worker-safety proposals and advance them through a joint rulemaking with OSHA.

The chairman of the House subcommittee with jurisdiction over OSHA’s worker-protection duties says that he intends to prioritize oversight of the agency’s rulemaking work in the coming years, and is specifically highlighting plans to press for more stakeholder involvement in the rulemaking process, especially from small businesses.

A National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) peer-review panel has broadly endorsed EPA’s draft risk assessment of formaldehyde that adopted controversial research linking workplace exposures to the chemical with leukemia, potentially opening a door for rules based on those findings, but industry is challenging the review process in court.

A group that advocates for restaurant workers is urging OSHA to include kitchens in its forthcoming standard for heat danger, escalating labor groups’ recent calls for the rule to extend beyond outdoor job sites and to mandate protections such as sufficient breaks, heat education and acclimatization plans for all employees.

As expected, California OSHA (Cal/SOHA) officials’ latest update to proposed first-time employee-safety rules for heat illness prevention at indoor worksites rejects pressure from worker-safety advocates and some of the agency’s standards board members to tighten the draft by lowering temperature thresholds that trigger protective actions.

The train operator involved in the Feb. 4 train derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, OH, has reached a settlement with OSHA and its own union to resolve four citations issued regarding worker safety violations and hazards, agreeing to add new medical surveillance and emergency response training, among other commitments.