Daily News

Federal OSHA plans to solicit more state plan input into the development of its National Emphasis Programs (NEPs), which the agency now plans to require state programs to implement, agency chief David Michaels told employees of the Washington state plan last month. An advocate for state-level programs welcomed the move, citing the diversity of states' industries as well as the resource-intensive nature of some NEPs, which can put a strain on enforcement efforts.

Workers' compensation experts are calling for a government study, possibly coordinated by NIOSH and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), to study physician-developed impairment rating systems frequently used by state workers' compensation systems to help calculate payments resulting from on-the-job injuries and illnesses.

OSHA chief David Michaels told Washington state plan officials in mid-November that the agency plans to rescind blanket exemptions in the fall protection standard for residential construction, nearly two years after an agency advisory committee proposed the change, also sought by home builders and state plans. The shift in policy would require that employers, if they want to use alternative means, demonstrate conventional fall protection is infeasible or creates greater hazards.

Key hospital and doctors’ lobbies are calling on OSHA chief David Michaels to turn down a request from three petitioner groups to take strong regulatory action limiting the hours of resident physicians, with no word yet on how the agency plans to respond. The American Hospital Association (AHA) sent a letter to OSHA echoing concerns raised by the American Medical Association to the petition.

Citing worker safety data, a coalition of halogenated solvents producers has filed a rare Clean Air Act petition asking the Environmental Protection Agency to list a competing chemical as a hazardous air pollutant (HAP), a move that could spur emission rules for the chemical that the competitors pitch as a non-hazardous "environmentally friendly" alternative to ozone-depleting solvents.

Supporters of 9/11 health legislation that would establish a program within NIOSH to provide medical monitoring and treatment to emergency responders, cleanup workers and others affected by the attacks on the World Trade Center are intensely lobbying Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), one of several moderate GOP members who could push the bill over the crucial 60-vote threshold to defeat an expected filibuster, sources close to talks with Republicans told Inside OSHA Online. Proponents currently count 59 votes in favor of moving the bill to a floor vote, they said.

Two key GOP senators are raising strong objections to the Obama OSHA's regulatory and policy agenda, particularly the agency's renewed emphasis on enforcement and decreased emphasis on voluntary protection programs (VPP). The lawmakers sent a letter to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis in mid-November broadly criticizing OSHA for veering away from collaborative efforts with industry and seeking detailed answers about how the agency formulated its new on-site consultation and penalty policies.

The oil and gas industries are facing pressure from key Democrats on both sides of Capitol Hill to adopt stricter safety standards for diesel engines that incorporate the consistent use of air intake shut-off valves to prevent explosions caused by runaway engines operating in hazardous environments. A congressional staffer said OSHA regulatory action might not be needed if industry agrees to voluntarily tighten its standards.

OSHA has decided to give stakeholders an extra 90 days to comment on the agency's controversial proposal to define “feasible” in its general industry and construction occupational noise standards as “capable of being done,” a new interpretation that industry officials complain is too broad and could force employers to implement costly engineering controls instead of relying on personal protective equipment to reduce noise exposure, sources say.

OSHA hopes to incorporate a wide range of input from industry in the planning stages of its top regulatory priority, a proposed injury and illness prevention program rule, by conducting a confidential survey of employers about their approaches to safety and health, sources told Inside OSHA Online. The proposed survey, to be commissioned through an outside consulting firm, is currently being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget, they said.

Commissioners appear to be divided so far in a possibly precedent-setting case before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) in which industry is calling for time limits on citations to prevent OSHA from coming back after more than six months and citing “continuing violations.” A decision in the case is expected by April, a legal source said.

Industry officials are calling on OSHA to launch a formal rulemaking process instead of relying on an “interpretation” to define “feasible” as it relates to the general industry and construction occupational noise control standards, voicing growing concerns that the agency's informal proposal to define “feasible” as “capable of being done” could force employers to institute costly administrative or engineering controls.

A key group representing the electric industry has mounted a legal challenge to provisions of OSHA's final rule on crane and derrick safety, arguing that requirements to certify operators of digger derricks do not fit with the spirit of the law and also protesting a provision that makes utilities de-energize power lines whenever non-utility workers are operating near them.

Cal/OSHA chief Len Welsh told Inside OSHA Online that just-issued updates to the state's heat safety regulations should be considered in the big picture of getting eventual OSHA approval of the state plan, noting that no federal standard exists for comparison that specifically addresses heat safety.

Business interests hope the incoming Republican House majority attacks what industry views as the Obama OSHA's practice of “regulation by shaming” as well as take on a host of agency priorities, especially efforts to issue an injury and illness prevention program rule and return the musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) column to injury reporting requirements, which industry sees as a back-door way for OSHA to tackle ergonomics enforcement.

A government-sponsored panel is calling on OSHA to reassess the eight-hour chemical standard used as the metric for permissible exposure limits (PELs) and adopt more aggressive policies to tackle workplace chemical exposures as part of a comprehensive national strategy to reduce the public health effects of toxic substances. The recommendations are from a work group formed as part of a collaborative effort backed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

The Republican takeover of the House and the party's gains in the Senate will likely wipe out a long-sought union-backed push to pass reforms that would expand OSHA's authority, stakeholders said in interviews with Inside OSHA Online. The mid-term elections present OSHA with a far more adversarial political environment than at the outset of the Obama administration, with a more conservative Capitol Hill also likely to stand in the way of contentious rulemaking efforts and restart oversight functions that have stymied the agency in the past, sources say.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) on Wednesday outlined an aggressive plan to extend Congress' oversight reach as part of a 17-page roadmap for how he would run the House if tapped House Majority Leader. Cantor's plan calls for a return to a “committee-driven legislature that investigates problems,” and promises floor votes on committee investigations.

Business representatives are strongly protesting OSHA's proposal to stop offering multi-year blanket inspection exemptions for employers participating in the agency's on-site consultation program, known as the Safety and Health Achievement and Recognition Program (SHARP). Union officials favor the change, but industry officials say the move undermines the program and speculate that OSHA's voluntary compliance efforts will take on new importance if Republicans make significant gains in Tuesday's mid-term elections.

Future funding for development and support of voluntary threshold limit values (TLVs), exposure limits that have sparked legal controversy due to OSHA's past reliance on them in crafting standards, remains unclear after two key health and safety groups scrapped efforts to form an alliance to support TLVs, sources say.