Daily News

A federal court has sided with OSHA in a key preemption case, agreeing that the agency's cranes and derricks rule does not preempt New York City's building code, which was written with stricter standards to protect not only workers but the general public from construction crane hazards. An industry attorney who reviewed the decision suggested the District Court judge wrote it in such a way as to withstand an appeal, possibly all the way to the Supreme Court.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and OSHA face pressure from agency advisors to take the department's case for a rulemaking on crystalline silica more forcefully to White House officials who have kept the agency's proposal under wraps for almost a year. The renewed push comes in the form of a recommendation from OSHA's national advisory panel, which often provides advice at the agency level, but not frequently to the DOL chief. The latest recommendation echoes similar advice the group gave to both OSHA and the secretary last year, but is even more strongly worded.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is intensifying pressure on OSHA to take urgent action cracking down on combustible dust hazards, calling on the agency to publish a proposed rule tackling the issue within one year and add industries that generate metal dust to the targets of its National Emphasis Program (NEP) on the enforcement side. The OSHA recommendations lead a host of measures CSB wants various organizations, from the local to federal levels, to take following a probe into several incidents last year at a steel plant in Tennessee, two of which were fatal.

A major petroleum industry group met with White House officials in mid-December to reiterate its support for OSHA's move to align the U.S. hazard communication (hazcom) standard with the United Nations-developed global system -- but also press some key concerns, including asking that OSHA rename a category for “unclassified” hazards to “other” or similar language in the planned rule. OSHA's proposal to create an “unclassified” list of hazards has been one of the few sticking points over the rulemaking, which has generally enjoyed broad support among large industries.

As key OSHA initiatives -- such as a closely watched proposed rule on crystalline silica -- remain in regulatory limbo, stakeholders on all sides are increasingly calling to reform the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), the White House office that reviews the agency's regulations.

OSHA stakeholders are turning their attention to the agency's reinvigorated enforcement efforts and the increasing profile of its National Emphasis Programs (NEPs) -- especially as they apply to testy issues such as ergonomics -- and other administrative policies within OSHA as the agency enters 2012 with a more tightly constrained regulatory agenda. Sources say OSHA is doing what it can internally to address areas it considers crucial, as the administration and Congress effectively slow new rulemaking efforts on safety and health issues.

House Republicans plan to schedule more hearings in 2012 to scrutinize OSHA's regulatory agenda and enforcement policies, following a year in which the new GOP majority got better up to speed on key worker safety and health issues, the chairman of the workforce protections subcommittee told Inside OSHA Online in an exclusive interview. At the same time, Rep.

Democrats on the House panel with OSHA jurisdiction on Dec. 22 blasted their Republican colleagues' record on occupational safety and health issues throughout the second half of 2011, criticizing the GOP for what they characterize as attacks on OSHA's proposed standard on crystalline silica, addition of a column for musculoskeletal disorders to injury recordkeeping logs, and a new policy tightening safety rules in home roofing and repair.

Food safety advocacy groups have filed the first-ever lawsuit urging the government to regulate the potential health and safety risks of nanotechnology, requesting the court force the Food and Drug Administration to answer their six-year-old citizen petition demanding FDA start regulating the use of unlabeled nanomaterials in consumer products. The groups said that they were propelled to pursue further legal action by the growing number of scientific reports calling for more regulation of the use of nanotechnology in such products.

A closely watched federal appeals court case has solidified OSHA's long-contested multi-employer citation policy, throwing out an appeal from a general contractor whom OSHA cited for alleged violations affecting workers not directly employed by the company. A legal source following the case suggested the ruling could be “the final nail in the coffin” for disputes over the policy.

Congress – as part of a huge eleventh-hour deal to keep agencies afloat the rest of of the fiscal year – appropriated millions more to OSHA compliance assistance programs at the state and federal levels, as well as $1 million to beef up the whistleblower protection program, which OSHA has been striving to improve.

NIOSH will continue to receive funding for two key programs the Obama administration sought to zero out, but which safety advocates fought to preserve: The agency will not see its Education and Research Centers (ERCs) or Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing (AFF) Program terminated -- at least for now. Both programs enjoy support from various occupational safety and health advocates, but for much of this year the future of both programs was unclear.

House and Senate negotiators reached a deal Thursday (Dec. 15) on Labor Department spending for the rest of fiscal 2012 that kills OSHA's plans to add a column for musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) to OSHA recordkeeping logs by blocking funds for the effort. But they scrapped policy riders that would have similarly put a stop to the agency's controversial injury and illness prevention program (I2P2) rule, as well as its new fall protection policy as it relates to residential reroofing and roof-repair activities.

OSHA -- conceding its proposed injury and illness prevention program (I2P2) rule will not likely take its next key step, a small business review panel, until this spring or later -- faces stepped-up pressure from safety advocates to move the high-profile rulemaking more quickly through the regulatory process. At the same time, a key OSHA advisory group is recommending OSHA and NIOSH back a major national symposium to move I2P2 forward generally.

OSHA chief David Michaels is reviewing an internal draft on ways to administratively improve the agency's voluntary protection programs (VPP), an agency official told Inside OSHA Online. The draft addresses ways to revamp VPP policies and performance measures to bolster the program, make the program more consistent across the regions and address resource constraints without compromising the effort, the OSHA official suggested.

A bill to codify OSHA's voluntary protection programs (VPP) has begun picking up more support on Capitol Hill, and a key senator involved in occupational safety and health is signaling that he wants to push the measure soon, Washington sources say. At the same time, OSHA told Inside OSHA Online that agency chief David Michaels is now reviewing a draft internal report on ways to improve VPP (see related story).

Key House Democrats are pushing a new bill that would require the Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its current system for regulating chemical dispersants used in oil spill cleanup efforts, echoing calls from environmentalists and the agency's Inspector General for the agency to strengthen its oversight of the controversial chemicals. The move comes as OSHA recently stepped up its efforts to protect the health and safety of oil spill workers.

NIOSH, with the help of stakeholders, is closely examining the complexities that may be involved in adopting a new tiered classification system for carcinogens that would create different levels of identified risk, like systems used by other organizations such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). A top agency official says moving toward that model could provide OSHA with a far wider range of options for developing its compulsory workplace exposure limits.

OSHA, in a move sources say closely hews to the intent of a pilot program to reduce safety hazards in chemical plants, as well as a similar effort in refineries, has launched a new National Emphasis Program (NEP) for the chemical industry in all states and regions. Worker advocates, while praising the stepped-up inspections, would like to see voluntary protection program (VPP) sites included in the new initiative, a union official told Inside OSHA Online.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pressing the White House and OSHA to rule out a potential aspect of the agency's upcoming rule to align the hazard communication (hazcom) standard with the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of classifying and labeling chemicals, arguing that an “unclassified hazards” category in a draft proposal of the rule could open the door to the agency's controversial push to regulate combustible dust. The business group voiced its concerns in a private meeting Nov.