Daily News

Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI) has reintroduced a bill to codify OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), launching another legislative effort to solidify the program as part of the agency's mission. Petri tells Inside OSHA Online in an exclusive interview that the program represents a carrot versus stick approach and that its savings in terms of safety improvement far outweigh the VPP resource costs.

OSHA intends to focus on a diverse cluster of issues ranging from workplace violence to health hazards and is developing a new Field Operations Manual (FOM) for industrial hygiene, the agency's top enforcement administrator told lawyers and OSH stakeholders at a legal conference in California, according to sources at the meeting.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed significant new use rules (SNURs) for some 37 chemicals, including more than a dozen nanomaterials, requiring greater worker protections than the agency's past SNURs for other carbon nanotubes, a change labor groups and federal occupational health and safety officials have been seeking, according to a source with a safe technology group.

OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP), which the agency initiated in 2010 to more forcefully crack down on employers with egregious non-compliance, made progress in the first 18 months but has encountered some challenges, including the transitory nature of some construction employers that makes it difficult to follow up and track the companies, the agency says.

A new report from Congress' investigative arm sharply criticizes OSHA's oversight of its own enforcement efforts, saying the agency needs to standardize its audit practices and better use data from its audits, and suggests the agency apply the level of oversight to state plans that it applies to the enforcement of federal standards.

Two Maryland state lawmakers have filed a bill -- pushed by the advocacy group Public Citizen -- to weigh the safety records of construction companies seeking state work as a prequalification in the bidding process. The move follows a report by Public Citizen last summer, part of a national effort to address construction safety at the state level, on deaths and injuries in Maryland construction projects. A source says more state bills are likely to follow.

Federal budget officials say OSHA will take a hit of roughly $28 million in spending cuts through the remainder of fiscal 2013 as long as sequestration remains in place. The figure is lower than estimated in September, but the cuts have to be carried out in a much shorter time frame with only seven months left in the fiscal year.

Public Citizen is launching a campaign to pressure OSHA to consider stronger worker protections in the health care sector -- including an expansion of the bloodborne pathogen standard and addressing ergonomic issues -- with details to emerge in the coming months, a source with the group tells Inside OSHA Online.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD), ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, on Tuesday (Feb. 26) decried Republicans' move to block a Democratic measure to replace the budget sequester. The impasse comes as friction intensifies over the partisan gridlock, and news outlets were reporting Wednesday (March 27) that President Obama plans to meet with congressional leaders on Friday, when the cuts take effect, to work on a solution.

A federal judge has dismissed in large part an American Chemistry Council (ACC) lawsuit claiming the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) failed to provide documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), ruling that research data ACC requested on a study the department used to classify formaldehyde as a carcinogen is publicly available. Formaldehyde has come up as a key chemical of concern as OSHA explores ways to update its compulsory permissible exposure limits in the workplace.

Washington insiders are bracing for across-the-board funding cuts to go into effect March 1 for at least one month while lawmakers work toward a government funding measure to replace the continuing resolution that expires at the end of March and also address the sequester. The Alliance for a Stronger FDA, a group that lobbies for Food and Drug Administration funding, also told its members Monday (Feb. 25) there is increased discussion on Capitol Hill about legislation that would give agencies more discretion in allocating the cuts as opposed to requiring they be imposed equally.

OSHA has gained White House backing to reprogram agency funding in order to avoid furloughing workers if the budget sequestration kicks in March 1, agency chief David Michaels states in an internal memo, obtained by Inside OSHA Online.

Worker safety advocates have launched a petition campaign urging the White House to release OSHA's proposed silica rule for public comment, which would be the next crucial phase in moving the controversial regulation forward. But the Obama White House requires 100,000 signatures to elicit a response, and advocates of the rule say they are far shy of that number. Industry officials continue to oppose the rule, calling it unnecessary.

Lawmakers will likely reintroduce broad legislation to overhaul the OSH Act, which failed to gain traction earlier in Congress, with most provisions of the earlier bill intact, a source familiar with the issue tells Inside OSHA Online. In the previous Congress there was talk of attaching at least some provisions of the OSHA reform act to proposed mine safety legislation, but neither measure got off the ground. Sources also give the new bill next-to-no chances of success.

Officials with the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) were on Capitol Hill in early February trying to persuade members of Congress to maintain steady funding levels for OSHA and NIOSH in the face of the current budget crisis.

The Labor Department estimates that roughly 1,200 fewer programmed OSHA inspections would take place if the government-wide budget sequester kicks in March 1, and warns that state plans would also take an inspection hit. The acting Labor secretary pegged the numbers as part of an overall response to Senate Appropriations Chair Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who had asked for details from agencies about the immediate impacts of the sequester.

A joint study by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) and Cal/OSHA raises concerns about pipe corrosion leading to worker safety hazards in the petrochemical industry. The joint study resulted in a technical evaluation report on piping samples taken from the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, CA, where a hydrocarbon release and massive fire occurred in August 2012. Cal/OSHA participated in the technical evaluation as part of its enforcement probe.

Arizona officials are bucking federal OSHA's call for the state to revise its fall protection standards for residential construction, leaving up in the air what next steps the federal agency may take. The state has come under the threat of federal disapproval of its state plan after state lawmakers passed a measure requiring what critics say is a less stringent policy than federal OSHA requirements.

The state's formal reply to a Complaint About State Program Administration (CASPA) filed over the issue says the state does not intend to change its policy.

The grain industry has reached a favorable outcome following talks with OSHA over the agency's controversial interpretation of its safety policies for the use of sweep augers in grain bins, clearing up longstanding confusion surrounding the issue through a settlement with the agency. The parties reached a deal when the industry came up with alternative safety measures to allow workers inside grain bins while augers are energized.

OSHA chief David Michaels indicated at a closed-door meeting with OSHA staff that he will stay in the agency's top post, ending weeks of speculation about whether he would continue leading the agency or return to his professor role at George Washington University. Michaels is the first assistant secretary at OSHA to serve into a president's second term. Michaels also reiterated his resolve to continue pushing injury and illness prevention programs (I2P2) as a key rulemaking initiative.