The length of time it could still take for OSHA regulators to pore over the massive trove of documents related to their long-proposed rule to reduce exposures to crystalline silica dust in general industry and construction – with an analysis not wrapping up until at least next spring, they say – means it could be nearly impossible for the agency to finish the rule before President Obama leaves office, considering the Republican takeover of Congress, Washington insiders say.
September 17, 2026
The government's lead agency in regulating how thousands of clinical laboratories reliably conduct testing on human specimens is urging state health officials to ensure that labs follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines in specimen collection to stop the potential spread of Ebola – and hew to safety mandates and guidelines including those issued by OSHA as part of infection control.
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The House Republican conference has again selected Rep. John Kline as chair of the work force committee, which oversees OSHA, with the Minnesota congressman pledging Wednesday (Nov. 19) to bring more “certainty” to workplaces – which fits with Kline's longtime approach to OSHA that the agency should craft policies that he deems more flexible and cooperative with the business community.
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OSHA's enforcement arm is gearing up to look for any possible violations of what the agency describes as large retailers' obligations under the OSH Act to prevent injuries to workers during the upcoming crush of holiday shoppers, re-emphasizing an issue that falls under its broad general-duty authority to address known hazards.
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The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is reiterating its 2002 call for the Environmental Protection Agency to add ammonium nitrate to its facility safety program, saying regulation of the substance under the Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule could have prevented or mitigated the April 2013 explosion in West, TX, that killed 15 people and prompted a federal review of plant safety.
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A key safety equipment trade group is endorsing a set of new international specifications for choosing personal protective equipment (PPE) for stopping the spread of Ebola among health care workers and patients, saying selection of PPE should be tied to established performance standards and not “panic buys” stemming from Ebola-related crises.
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Federal chemical safety officials launched an investigation Saturday into a chemical release incident that took four workers' lives at the La Porte DuPont Plant near Houston, potentially bringing new attention to the substance involved, which is frequently used to odorize natural gas.
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A Senate Democratic counsel who has worked extensively on OSHA and other employment issues for Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), outgoing chair of the labor committee, has been tapped by President Obama as the next member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), as Obama withdrew a contentious nominee who had earlier been named using “recess appointment” powers that led to a Supreme Court battle.
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OSHA considers the core principle that health care employees should be made “whole” compensation-wise if they are temporarily removed on a medical basis from their work settings an essential aspect of the agency's planned rule to help prevent the spread of airborne- or droplet-based infectious diseases, officials said Wednesday (Nov. 12) after small employers raised concerns about the provision.
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OSHA has again decided to delay full implementation of its new electrical power generation and distribution safety rule by issuing a new “temporary citation” policy that pushes back enforcement of the specific regulatory mandates until the end of this year, though it remains possible for compliance officers to allege violations of existing requirements.
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OSHA's decision to wield the OSH Act general duty clause against a poultry processing facility in Alabama -- an action precipitated by a complaint from the Southern Poverty Law Center -- reflects, according to observers, both an eagerness on OSHA's part to enforce against alleged ergonomic hazards and agency concern that new government rules allowing accelerated chicken processing lines could lead to severe occupational injury risks.
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Some OSHA stakeholders, especially in the worker advocacy community, are expressing deep concern that the Obama administration failed to take into account pressing needs for resources at the safety and health agency to tackle Ebola when President Obama recently sent to Congress a massive emergency funding request to confront the crisis.
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The White House on Nov. 5 unveiled a multi-billion dollar fiscal 2015 emergency appropriations request to support Ebola efforts -- including adding to the national stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) to stop the spread of Ebola among health workers -- in a far-reaching spending plan that Congress will take up this week.
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OSHA is preparing to issue a “matrix” regarding proper use and supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) to shield workers from potential exposure to the Ebola virus in the event suspected or known cases of the highly infectious disease continue to appear in the United States, a key OSHA official working on Ebola concerns said Thursday.
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The Republican takeover of the Senate likely foretells huge new difficulties for OSHA's regulatory and enforcement agenda, with one prediction especially dire for the agency: that the GOP will almost certainly try to obstruct, or even dash altogether, longtime efforts to issue a rule clamping down on crystalline silica exposures, Washington sources say.
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The Labor Department's internal watchdog is looking into OSHA enforcement practices at Job Corps centers owned by DOL, according to the Office of Inspector General's latest audit work plan which outlines investigative priorities for fiscal 2015.
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NIOSH chief John Howard this week outlined several major research priorities that he views as central to government – and industry-wide – efforts to protect workers from Ebola and other diseases, saying the need to match worker exposure levels to appropriate use of personal protective equipment, as well as to test methods for determining the amount of protection from a given type of PPE, are key research issues for infection control experts.
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OSHA is signaling that it may soon move forward on a proposed rule to “clarify” OSHA recordkeeping requirements to indicate that the six-month statute of limitations for enforcement restarts every day that an employer fails to correct an inaccurate or incomplete injury and illness log.
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OSHA in attempting to issue an infectious disease rule that would apply in health care settings is asking small business representatives to consider a requirement that hospitals retain in-house occupational health experts or hire dedicated consultants to combat the potential spread of infectious agents among workers.
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Business groups have decided their day in court is over after D.C. Circuit appellate judges threw out the groups' challenge of OSHA's inclusion of combustible grain dust in its 2012 update to the hazard communication rule, accepting that affected employers will have to integrate the requirement in their operations despite the trade groups' rigorous assertion that OSHA failed to follow regulatory procedure in defining combustible dust, a knowledgeable legal source tells Inside OSHA Online.
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