The AFL-CIO is calling on Congress to “immediately intervene” to require the Trump administration to reinstate all staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as well as defend a federal budget that maintains and increases funding for job safety agencies like OSHA.
September 16, 2026
OSHA is asking a federal district court to dismiss North Dakota’s lawsuit challenging an OSHA investigation into alleged whistleblower retaliation by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (NDDEQ), arguing that sovereign immunity does not shield the state from federal enforcement actions.
Date:
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and industry groups are urging a federal appeals court to reject efforts by labor unions and respiratory health advocates to formally intervene in litigation over the Biden-era silica dust rule, arguing the motions are untimely, unsupported by the law, and threaten to disrupt an already-advanced case.
Date:
A West Virginia coal miner is asking a federal district court for a preliminary injunction to stop the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from terminating key programs aimed at protecting coal miners from occupationally caused lung disease, saying the programs are integral to implementing the Mine Safety and Health Act.
Date:
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) is seeking the reinstatement of both the functions and staff of a recently gutted National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) facility in West Virginia, arguing the cuts endanger the health and safety of coal miners and undermine decades of public health research.
Date:
California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board is proposing the formation of a special panel to recommend actions to help fill voids in worker safety that may be created by the Trump administration’s near-elimination of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), including certifying personal protective equipment (PPE).
Date:
A tissue paper manufacturer is urging the 6th Circuit to reverse an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) ruling upholding OSHA penalties for an alleged violation of so-called lockout/tagout safety standards, arguing the ALJ erred in finding the contested activity was not integral to production, which could have broad effects for the paper industry.
Date:
Industry experts are urging chemical manufacturers to proactively share occupational exposure data with EPA during TSCA risk evaluations of existing chemicals, even if the data was collected for other regulatory purposes, and provide contextual details that could result in more accurate assessments.
Date:
OSHA has announced plans to hold an informal public hearing in June on a Biden-era proposed rule aimed at preventing heat-related illnesses and deaths in the workplace, although it still remains uncertain whether the agency will finalize the rule amid industry and GOP lawmakers’ calls to scrap the rulemaking.
Date:
California state senators are advancing a labor-backed bill to bar employers from relying on automated decision-making systems (ADS) to make a variety of employment decisions -- including those aimed at aiding worker safety -- without human oversight.
Date:
Employer representatives are providing updated recommendations to California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) over its pending new policy to implement tougher penalties for “egregious” and “enterprise-wide” violations, fearing particularly punishing monetary fines for minor infractions across multiple sites.
Date:
The 8th Circuit has stayed compliance deadlines of the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) silica rule amid industry concerns that MSHA’s voluntary pause on enforcement of the rule does not provide the certainty of a stay pending judicial review.
Date:
President Donald Trump is stepping up his administration’s aggressive deregulatory agenda, issuing a memorandum requiring the repeal of OSHA and other agency rules that officials deem “unlawful” under recent Supreme Court precedents while also issuing ordering several agencies to begin considering a “sunset” of rules related to energy production.
Date:
A West Virginia coal miner is challenging the Trump administration’s near elimination of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), arguing the move violates provisions of mine safety law by disrupting health surveillance and job transfer programs for miners with respiratory diseases.
Date:
A medical sterilizer is suing EPA over its rule limiting occupational exposures to ethylene oxide (EtO) under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), a move that comes after the agency announced it will reconsider its air toxics rules for such facilities and puts more pressure on EPA to overturn a key EtO risk assessment.
Date:
Industry is pressing Trump administration officials to make numerous changes to its draft scoping document for the TSCA risk evaluation of vinyl chloride, with manufacturers arguing EPA must acknowledge “unreasonable risk” is not just any type of risk and pointing to existing protections for workers.
Date:
Democrats are introducing legislation to strengthen health and safety protections for miners following the gutting of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which focuses in part on research related to black lung and innovative technologies to keep mines safe.
Date:
EPA deputy chemicals chief Nancy Beck is reminding agency science advisors that TSCA evaluations inform regulations that have “real consequences” for both workers and the general public who need to use chemicals such as 1,3-butadiene, and urged them to let staff know if the Biden-era evaluation missed something or is “overly conservative.”
Date:
Attorneys are advising employers to press California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) to include maximum flexibility within its forthcoming proposed infectious disease standard for general industry, in part by applying lessons learned from the problematic implementation of COVID-19 worker-safety rules and guidance during the pandemic.
Date:
The Trump administration’s decision to eliminate nearly all aspects of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is likely to hamper OSHA’s ability to develop new regulations and ensure they are legally defensible as well as generally increase risks to workers, OSHA experts say.
Date: