The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and industry groups are urging the 8th Circuit to again reject unions’ attempt to intervene in consolidated litigation over the agency’s silica dust rule, arguing the unions have provided no new evidence that the court should reverse its prior denial.
September 16, 2026
The Trump administration is continuing its push for a federal court to dismiss a West Virginia coal miner’s lawsuit challenging staffing cuts at a key federal health agency, raising standing and sovereign immunity defenses to argue there is nothing for the court to decide.
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Employer attorneys are urging companies to reexamine their environment, health and safety (EHS) recordkeeping policies in light of updated OSHA inspection guidance, warning that even companies with comparatively low injury and illness rates may be flagged for inspection if OSHA suspects inaccurate reporting.
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Public Citizen and the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) are renewing their push for OSHA to limit the work hours of resident physicians, arguing in a new petition that a medical education accreditation council has failed to demonstrate that it can establish and enforce standards for safe and healthful working conditions.
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Labor unions and Democratic lawmakers are mounting an aggressive campaign to reinstate the work force slashed by the Trump administration at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), with lawmakers raising concerns in congressional hearings and unions suing to ensure “the whole of NIOSH is functional.”
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Unions are urging a federal appeals court to reconsider its denial of their motion to intervene in litigation over the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) silica dust rule, arguing the court acted prematurely and failed to consider key arguments supporting their participation.
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North Dakota is urging a federal court to reject OSHA’s efforts to dismiss litigation challenging an agency investigation into alleged whistleblower retaliation by the state’s environment department, arguing OSHA’s position “ignores the finer points” of the state’s sovereign immunity claims.
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Ahead of OSHA’s public hearing next month on a Biden-era proposed heat illness prevention rule, House Republican lawmakers and industry representatives are pointing to the rule as a key example of agency overreach, questioning both its utility and feasibility for industries operating across diverse climates and conditions.
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California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board is weighing a petition from construction industry groups to delay by one year the July 1 effective date of controversial regulatory amendments to the state’s fall-protection standard for residential construction workers that aim to meet federal OSHA’s requirements.
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The Labor Department (DOL) is urging the 6th Circuit to deny a paper company’s attempt to overturn an OSHA finding the company violated so-called lockout/tagout requirements, arguing an administrative law judge (ALJ) properly found the company exposed workers to serious hazards from unexpected machine startup.
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The Trump EPA has informed the 5th Circuit that it is dropping its defense of two key issues related to assessing risks to workers in a consolidated challenge to the agency’s TSCA risk management rule for methylene chloride, noting the issues are the subject of the agency’s “framework” rule that is being revised.
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OSHA is confirming that employers may use their own electronic systems and forms to track workplace injuries and illnesses as long as the alternative methods meet specific regulatory requirements for equivalency, while noting the agency does not endorse any commercial products.
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Attorneys are urging companies to ensure they have up-to-date heat safety programs ahead of high summer temperatures, noting OSHA’s continued focus on heat-related hazards through its National Emphasis Program (NEP) even in the absence of a federal standard and a growing number of states with heat safety standards.
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Conservative scholars are expressing skepticism that President Donald Trump can successfully compel OSHA and other federal agencies to revoke 10 rules for every new rule issued, after the White House released guidance explaining how to comply with the president’s steppe-up deregulatory effort.
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The Trump EPA plans to expand its chemicals office “by at least 130 people,” the office’s top political appointee told staff earlier this week, which is expected to speed TSCA reviews of chemicals, including consideration of risks to workers, though the additional personnel are being moved from EPA’s gutted research office, a move that is drawing criticism.
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Aiming to provide more compliance clarity for the construction industry, California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) is laying out new guidance for employers to comply with tougher lead exposure-prevention worker-safety rules that took effect Jan. 1, specifically applying to employees conducting dry abrasive blasting.
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An employer-focused law firm is launching a coalition to craft recommendations for targeted changes to OSHA and Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules, responding to the Trump administration’s call for stakeholders’ feedback on federal regulations that are onerous, outdated or unnecessary.
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A Texas drilling company is asking a federal district court to vacate a workplace safety citation and declare the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) unconstitutional on multiple grounds, becoming at least the second company to raise such arguments about OSHRC in the wake of a landmark high court decision.
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California lawmakers continue to advance worker safety-related bills, including a measure to prohibit employers from preventing workers from wearing masks or respirators if it is safe, and another to bar employers from relying on automated decision-making systems (ADS) to make a variety of employment decisions without human oversight.
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A federal appeals court has denied requests from labor unions and public health advocates to formally intervene in litigation challenging the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) final silica dust rule after MSHA and industry groups argued the intervention motions were untimely and legally flawed.
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