Mining industry safety-training experts are backing the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) plan to remove discretionary authority that allows agency district managers to require additional safety measures beyond those specified in regulation, but are urging MSHA to bolster the administrative record for the proposed rule.
September 16, 2026
West Virginia coal miners are urging a federal district court to reject the Justice Department’s (DOJ) latest bid to dismiss litigation challenging staffing cuts at a key federal workplace safety agency, arguing the Trump administration has not met its burden for dismissal and is relying on Supreme Court rulings that are not relevant.
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The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to retain safety standards for the use of trolleys in mines, arguing the technology used to transport mined ore and coal as well as personnel is still used in at least one mine.
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OSHA is extending by 60 days the comment period on 20 proposed rules that are part of a Trump administration regulatory reform package, granting a request from labor unions and other stakeholders for more time to evaluate proposed changes to rules relating to respirator standards and other safety requirements.
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Labor and worker rights advocates are urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MHSA) to “withdraw” its proposal seeking to remove duplicative requirements for inspection and maintenance of aerial tramways, arguing it would eliminate inspections mandates and compromise miners’ safety.
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A federal district court in West Virginia is allowing a coal miner’s lawsuit challenging staffing cuts at a key federal workplace safety agency to continue, allowing the plaintiff to file a second amended complaint that effectively moots the federal government’s repeated efforts over the past few months to get the case dismissed.
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The National Employment Law Project (NELP) and Biden-era OSHA Administrator Doug Parker are urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to drop its proposal to remove what the agency says are duplicate requirements for maintaining and inspecting drilling equipment in mines, arguing the proposal violates the law.
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Cal/OSHA is announcing monetary and other penalties against a food-production company in the San Joaquin Valley following the employer’s guilty plea on two misdemeanor counts after being criminally charged in connection with the 2020 deaths of two workers who were exposed to nitrogen gas at the company’s plant.
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The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is urging a Wisconsin grain milling company to respond to unresolved safety recommendations the board issued in 2023 following a 2017 fatal accident at one of the company’s facilities that resulted in criminal convictions against two of its managers.
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The National Mining Association (NMA) is urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to expand its regulatory reform package of 19 proposed rule changes to include two additional measures, arguing the agency also needs to change accident reporting and approval of electric motor-driven mine equipment.
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Labor unions are urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to provide additional options under its proposed hazard communication rule to allow miners rather than mine operators the choice of how to receive such materials, arguing a shift to electronic-only access will pose a barrier to some miners.
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A New Jersey steel company is seeking to preserve its suit raising a series of constitutional and statutory claims against the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), urging a federal court to reject the Labor Department’s (DOL) motion to dismiss, charging the government’s arguments are “meritless.”
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Environmentalists and industry groups are raising concerns about how EPA estimated risk to workers from phthalates in technical documents that will support a novel cumulative risk assessment of the chemicals, alleging that methodological deficiencies resulted in assessments that either understated or overstated risk.
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The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a fiscal year 2026 funding bill that maintains level funding for OSHA and other federal worker-protection agencies, rejecting the Trump administration’s bid to slash funding for the agencies and drawing praise from occupational safety advocates.
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Public health officials, labor unions and the construction industry are among numerous stakeholder groups asking OSHA for additional time to comment on a package of deregulatory proposals, with some targeting only a couple of the proposed rules and others seeking more time to review nearly all of the 24 regulations.
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Worker-safety advocacy organizations are warning members of California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board that employees in the state -- especially agricultural laborers -- are likely to suffer from increased injuries and illnesses as a result of raids on employer operations by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
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EPA has opened a new public comment period on a Biden-era TSCA risk management rule for the common solvent perchloroethylene (PCE or perc), seeking especially for information on whether workplace controls could reduce exposure to the chemical rather than outright prohibition of its use.
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The chairman and several other Republican members of the House Education and Workforce Committee are urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to relax the Biden-era silica dust rule in order “to prevent serious economic hardship.”
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The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has agreed to extend by 30 days the comment period for five of 18 rules it recently proposed, although stakeholders have asked for a 60-day extension for all the rules and noted the challenge of providing meaningful comments on so many proposals at the same time.
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The 5th Circuit has rejected arguments from a poultry company that OSHA erred in issuing citations for machine-guarding and safety signage violations, finding no reason to set aside an administrative law judge’s determinations that the citations were in order.
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