Daily News

Workplace exposure to phthalates will be a main subject during a meeting next month of a health advisory panel to Cal/OSHA, which has been at the forefront of efforts to draft permissible exposure limits (PEL) for the group of compounds thought to cause developmental and reproductive toxicity -- an area that's also been a subject of national discussion. Phthalates, mainly used to increase the flexibility and longevity of plastics, have been restricted in the U.S. and some other countries in products used by children, and safety advocates are promoting further controls.

OSHA is juggling numerous technical issues related to its proposed rulemaking to protect workers from combustible dust hazards, sources say, not least of which are cost issues and alternative control measures. Meanwhile, business interests are complaining about what they consider a closed process under which OSHA appears to be gathering information to support the rulemaking.

University of California (UC) scientists have released a revised report recommending how the Golden State should regulate nanomaterials and nanotechnology, with suggestions such as developing clear definitions, establishing a public clearinghouse of nanomaterial data and focusing on nanomaterials that are "persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic," provisions that could also apply to national nano policy. This comes as federal OSHA begins considering future ways to address nanotechnology.

OSHA plans to reopen the comment period for its controversial proposal to re-establish a column for musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) on OSHA recordkeeping logs, with sources saying there are still unresolved issues with small businesses on the costs associated with the proposal as well as the ability of employers to determine whether an injury is classified as an MSD.

A federal court decision backing up the Labor Department's legal arguments in an effort to subpoena records on inspections and reports from an employer's workers' compensation insurer clarifies the broader issue of OSHA's right to access such audit materials. OSHA praised the decision as making it clear that workers' compensation is not completely separated from OSHA, while industry argues that the reinforced subpoena power carries the potential for a chilling effect on employer efforts to identify and abate hazards.

Hotel workers are exerting pressure on federal OSHA to regulate ergonomics hazards in their industry and have already made inroads in California, where legislation pending in the state Senate would require new regulations to address the issue. The California bill comes as OSHA faces a series of ergonomic hazard complaints filed by employees of Hyatt hotels, potentially signaling a broad effort by organized labor interests to address the issue in the hotel industry.

Some worker health and safety professionals are reiterating a long-held view that OSHA should explore the possibility of developing a third-party workplace review program as one way to bolster voluntary protection programs (VPP), an idea that is being floated again in the face of potential agency budget cuts as Congress looks to trim federal agencies.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials are preparing to release updated guidelines for expanded use of safety factors applied in pesticide exposure risk assessments to protect children and pregnant farm workers -- which a top official in the pesticides office says will not be a "default" 10-fold safety factor (10x) -- as part of the soon to be finalized risk assessment guidelines for juvenile farm workers and children of farm workers.

Brookings Institution researchers are linking improved air quality to increased economic productivity, citing a recent study which found that the productivity of agricultural workers dropped as ozone levels rose and which suggested strengthening ozone standards for further benefits.

A bill moving through the California state Senate that would revamp the Cal/OSHA Appeals Board process could address some of the issues -- such as a need for broader participation in the handling of appeals -- identified in federal OSHA’s special audit of the state occupational safety and health plan, sources say, although the bill makes many changes to the appeals process not sought through the audit report and which are strongly opposed by California business interests.

OSHA says it will take into account the findings of recent reports by government investigative arms that criticize the handling of the Office of Whistleblower Protection Programs (OWPP) in addition to its own comprehensive internal review, telling Inside OSHA Online that its review will be considered “in conjunction” with the reports.

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has issued a letter of strong support for bipartisan legislation to codify OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), possibly creating new momentum for the measure in a year in which Republicans are eager to move the agency toward greater VPP reliance. AIHA stated that strong OSHA penalties and enforcement alone are not sufficient.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is revising its worker protection standard (WPS) to limit pesticide applicators' exposure to harmful chemicals, including adoption of a first-time certification requirement for use of widely used fumigant chemicals, which one source says marks the first time EPA will set standards based on chemicals' application methods rather than based on the pest that is being targeted.

One source familiar with the issue says EPA's new approach marks "a major shift" for how the agency regulates the chemicals and is a move long called for by activists.

OSHA, in its latest national outreach effort to warn employers about the dangers of heat-related illness, is citing the success of a similar initiative by Cal/OSHA. The agency, which is forming a partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on weather service alerts for workers, says it has “worked closely” with the California program to adapt materials from what it described as the state’s “successful outreach campaign” on heat illness for use in the national effort.

OSHA's top enforcement and field operations official says a “huge restructuring” of OSHA's Office of Whistleblower Protection Programs (OWPP) is under way to address what may be gaps in the program as the agency works to enforce the numerous anti-retaliation statutes that the Labor Department has delegated to the office over the years.

OSHA continues to peg ergonomics as one of the agency's leading enforcement priorities even in the absence of a specific standard to address musculoskeletal disorders, agency chief David Michaels has signaled, reiterating OSHA's intent to use the OSH Act's general duty clause to cite ergonomic hazards. He also identified infectious diseases and workplace violence as two broad areas that merit increased attention.

A key Senate Democrat on worker protection issues is lauding her home state of Washington for enacting a law requiring a process of hazard abatement during appeal of occupational safety and health violations, and calling for a similar law to be enacted on the federal level. The state's OSHA chief, who had urged the legislature to pass the measure, told Inside OSHA Online that the law fixes a decades-old gap in federal worker safety protections.

Industry is taking its legal challenge to OSHA's policy on so-called continuing violations of its injury and illness recordkeeping requirements to the next level by filing an appeal in federal court for the D.C. Circuit after the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) issued a split decision siding with the Labor Department's legal stance. At issue is OSHA's position that it can issue recordkeeping citations more than six months after the initial violation occurred under certain circumstances.

Cal/OSHA can be expected to re-evaluate its approach to serious workplace hazards to target the agency's resources toward industries with the most “flagrant abuses and violations,” while also reviewing the state OSHA plan with an eye toward eventual full federal approval, Ellen Widess, the new appointee to head the agency, told Inside OSHA Online in an exclusive interview.

OSHA has not determined whether the 27 state OSHA plans under its purview have met the required standard of “at least as effective” as the federal program in improving worker safety and health, the Labor Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) found in a recent sweeping audit of OSHA’s monitoring of state plans.