Daily News

Fewer than half of hospitals participating in the inpatient quality reporting program have so far met a requirement to report health care worker flu vaccination rates at their facilities for the 2012-2013 flu season, says the American Hospital Association (AHA), citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The reporting deadline is May 15.

A new memo from OSHA's national office directing regional administrators to begin tracking and addressing potential hazards faced by temporary workers is likely to stir controversy and lead to legal challenges, sources tell Inside OSHA Online. One observer says the newly unveiled policy appears to be part of a larger initiative across the Department of Labor to tackle issues related to temporary workers.

The memo from top OSHA officials could also have implications for OSHA's hotly contested legal approach to enforcement at multi-employer work sites, a source suggests.

A cluster of Senate Democrats has reintroduced a sweeping mine safety bill, reviving a long-unsuccessful legislative push that started years ago in the aftermath of mine disasters that spurred calls for reform. Mine safety legislation has previously been viewed as a potential vehicle for OSHA reform, and in 2010 there was an effort on Capitol Hill to attach provisions of the Protecting America's Workers Act to a mine safety bill that moved forward haltingly in the House.

House Democrats are seeking a study from congressional investigators into OSHA's chemical plant oversight activities in the wake of the deadly blast at a fertilizer plant in West, TX. Federal investigators are still looking into causes of the blast that killed at least 15 and injured 200, and trying to determine what process safety management issues and chemical storage practices may have contributed to the disaster. However, industry officials continue to admonish federal officials not to jump to conclusions about the accident and its ramifications until more details come to light.

President Obama has nominated Federal Trade Commission (FTC) official Howard Shelanski to be the next administrator of the White House Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), prompting a tepid reaction from open government groups who have criticized OIRA for weakening or blocking key regulations.

Uncertainty about how long of an exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE) must occur before it causes cardiac birth defects will likely prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from aiding regulators in protecting against the risks, complicating the agency's effort to craft guidance on protecting against risks from short-term exposures to the substance, industry and environmental sources say. Potential risks from worker exposure to TCE has come up in discussions about a need for OSHA to update its permissible exposure limits.

OSHA has come out with a controversial interpretation letter saying the law allows for union and worker representatives to participate in OSHA compliance officer walkaround inspections at work sites even without a collective bargaining agreement. Industry representatives immediately blasted the interpretation when it came to light, characterizing it as a blatant favor by the Obama administration to unions. OSHA and worker safety and health advocates say the policy spelled out in the agency letter is simply a clarification of existing policy and law.

The Senate subcommittee that was to hear Thursday (April 25) from OSHA chief David Michaels and several whistleblower experts has abruptly postponed the hearing, and sources blame politics over the nomination of Thomas Perez as Labor secretary for the delay.

OSHA on Tuesday (April 23) issued a final rule applying the requirements of its August 2010 cranes and derricks construction standard to demolition work and underground construction. The rule will protect workers from hazards associated with hoisting equipment used during construction activities, the agency says. The rule becomes effective May 23, 2013.

Worker safety and health advocates see the fertilizer plant disaster in West, TX, as a potential turning point in the long-running debate over OSHA reform, saying the catastrophe could reinvigorate efforts on Capitol Hill to advance at least some elements of the Protecting America's Workers Act (PAWA). These sources say the accident at least should precipitate a hearing on the PAWA bill. House Democrats introduced their latest version of the bill around the same time as the Texas fire and explosion.

NIOSH supporters are urging lawmakers to ask for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study into whether the agency should be moved out from under the auspices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The move comes as agency backers protest an Obama administration push to zero out two major NIOSH programs.

A new study by Congress' investigative arm finds that state OSH plans need more help from federal OSHA in addressing an array of challenges -- primarily in the staffing and training areas -- stemming from persistent budget woes at the state level that are affecting their OSH activities. OSHA generally agrees with the recommendations but suggests it is already strategizing how to better address state plan challenges.

The fertilizer facility in West, TX, where a disastrous fire and explosion killed at least a dozen and injured hundreds on Wednesday (April 17), did not meet the criteria for inclusion in OSHA's National Emphasis Program (NEP) that targets chemical facilities for inspection, an agency source tells Inside OSHA Online. The last OSHA inspection at West Chemical & Fertilizer Co. took place in 1985, the source says.

The massive, deadly explosion Wednesday (April 17) at a West, TX, fertilizer plant is leading worker safety advocates to raise extensive concerns about OSHA's ability in a resource-tight environment to adequately inspect chemical facilities for process safety management issues.

Organized labor and other worker safety advocates continue to rail against a proposed rule by an Agriculture Department agency that would effectively speed poultry food safety inspection lines, saying the plan would have far-ranging implications on worker safety issues including ergonomics, lacerations and amputations. The Agriculture Department, however, tells Inside OSHA Online it has been working closely with OSHA and NIOSH for years to address worker safety issues that may be affected by the department's proposed regulations and its inspections.

President Obama's nomination of Thomas Perez to head the Department of Labor will likely trigger debate over OSHA's enforcement strategy as the confirmation process gets under way on Capitol Hill this week. Perez goes before the Senate committee that oversees the Labor Department and OSHA on Thursday (April 18).

Industry advocates suggest that Perez's philosophical approach to the department will mirror that of former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, as will an OSHA leadership structure that under Obama has been considered much more aggressive on enforcement.

OSHA stakeholders see the Obama administration's proposed budget for the agency in fiscal year 2014 as making a significant difference for the functional capacity of the Directorate of Whistleblower Protection Programs (also known as OWPP), as the president proposes adding millions of dollars and several dozen investigators to the program.

Labor advocates will push EPA to review the agency's existing significant new use rules (SNURs) for certain nanomaterials to ensure they sufficiently protect workers, in the wake of a new study by federal agency scientists suggesting some carbon nanoparticles increase the risk of cancer when used in conjunction with known carcinogens.

OSHA is looking into the concept of combining its already-completed national refinery inspection program with its ongoing chemical facility inspection program, sources familiar with the issue tell Inside OSHA Online.

Worker safety and health advocates are decrying proposals in President Obama's budget plan for NIOSH released Wednesday (April 10) that would ax two of the research agency's programs and cut its total discretionary budget by more than $53 million. The budget plan reduces NIOSH discretionary funds to about $272 million. One source tells Inside OSHA Online the budget plan is the latest reason some stakeholders want a congressional study of whether the agency should be moved out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).