The Obama administration's naming of a Democratic majority to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has experts on management-labor relations expecting unions to wield more leverage on the powerful dispute mediation panel.
OSHA's planned regulations to reduce workplace exposures to crystalline silica dust are leading to friction with industry stakeholders -- not just over the contentious plan to lower the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for silica, but also because of strict monitoring and training requirements likely to accompany such a rule, according to industry sources, who also say the rule probably faces tough court challenges.
A key occupational health group has completed the transfer of its guidelines for workplace chemical exposure limits to a toxicology risk assessment group, in a move that a source familiar with the deal says will bolster development and updates of the guidelines.
A new report from the Labor Department's internal watchdog concludes that OSHA failed to spend nearly half the money DOL set aside from stimulus funds early in the Obama administration targeted for increased enforcement, but that the agency also exceeded program goals in terms of inspections and compliance assistance.
The Labor Department's newly minted leader is already facing a full-court press from worker health advocates to confront one of the thorniest regulatory issues that has daunted OSHA in recent decades -- how to adjust permissible exposure limits (PELs) for workplace chemicals using more updated science than when most of the compulsory caps were developed in the early 1970s.
Editor's note: Inside OSHA Online welcomes views from readers on this July 26 email from industry attorney Lawrence Halprin. For background, please see a recent story, “Chemical Safety Board Urges OSHA To Make Combustible Dust Top Priority.” Letters may be sent to ccole@iwpnews.com.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is pushing hard for OSHA to forge ahead on far-reaching standards tackling combustible dust hazards in general industry, saying the issue represents the board's “Most Wanted” regulations and top advocacy priority.
Two new nominees by President Obama to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have been reported favorably out of committee, but not without running into strong opposition from the labor panel's top Republican, who questioned “the ability of these two to set aside their pro-union advocacy past and act as neutral arbiters between employees and employers.”
A Washington think tank that leans toward pro-union policies lacerated the Obama administration on Monday (July 22) for the pace of occupational safety and health rules moving forward over the last five years, using a baseball metaphor to suggest the White House is on course for a “shutout” in getting vital regulations done.
Workplace health advocates are objecting to proposed bipartisan legislation to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) -- which the Environmental Protection Agency uses to regulate chemical manufacturing and imports -- for lacking specific worker protections.
A senior House Democrat has filed legislation to mandate that OSHA issue a safety standard to establish safe patient handling, mobility and injury prevention regulations, adding pressure at the federal level on an emerging issue where several state OSH programs are already making strides.
Committee votes are scheduled Wednesday (July 24) on President Obama's two pending nominations to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Thomas Perez, the newly confirmed secretary of Labor, will almost certainly continue the tough enforcement action on workplace safety and health that has characterized the last several years under the Obama administration's OSHA, experts tell Inside OSHA Online.
Health worker advocates are putting intense pressure on OSHA to expand its National Emphasis Program (NEP) on health care to include hospital inspections, in light of a scathing new report from Public Citizen blasting the level of federal action to prevent work injuries and illnesses in the health care sector overall.
Senate Democrats added language to a new spending measure directing the Labor Department to release OSHA's planned regulations to cut down on crystalline silica exposures in the workplace, intensifying pressure on the Obama administration to issue the long-awaited rule.
The U.S. Navy has produced a detailed plan to control beryllium exposures at its Fleet Readiness Center Southwest facility in Coronado, CA, in response to concerns by OSHA about workers in vicinity of the toxic metal.
Labor Secretary-designate Thomas Perez, after months of a bruising back-and-forth mostly at the committee level over controversies surrounding his tenure at the Justice Department and whether he brings an overly political bent to DOL, finds himself in the thick of a possible “nuclear” war in the Senate, with Democrats on the verge Tuesday (June 16) of triggering a change in rules to clear his and other nominations by President Obama.
Massachusetts lawmakers are set to consider a bill that would extend coverage of OSHA standards to state workplaces, and a source closely following the legislation says the measure, while having fallen short of the necessary support in earlier sessions, has a chance of passage this year largely because of pressure from Gov. Deval Patrick (D) on workplace safety and health concerns.
Two senior House Democrats on Wednesday (July 10) ripped a group of major retailers for a safety alliance plan for Bangladesh garment factories the lawmakers say competes with, and falls short of, a global public/private sector initiative already launched.
Senate environment committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is urging states to review and tighten policies to ensure the safe storage of ammonium nitrate, saying the Environmental Protection Agency is not moving fast enough to strengthen safety measures after the explosion of ammonium nitrate stored at a fertilizer facility in West, TX, that killed 15 people in April.