NIOSH chief John Howard says the agency is stepping up its cooperation with OSHA and also urging regulatory action in key areas where the research agency has centered its efforts -- including diacetyl and silica, two issues in which OSHA recently intensified its regulatory activities. Howard described several ways the agencies are working more closely, in an exclusive interview with Inside OSHA Online.
September 16, 2026
Industry groups and the Department of Defense (DOD) are urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clarify the situations where its proposed vapor intrusion assessment guidance would apply and where jurisdiction for regulating indoor air would fall to OSHA.
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OSHA is issuing a final rule that clarifies agency regulations in areas including the respiratory protection standard, the definition of “potable water,” and requirements for employers to transmit exposure and medical records to NIOSH, among other changes in a broad effort to streamline rules, better align them other federal agencies and, according to federal officials, reduce reporting burdens on employers.
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The posture of the Labor Department's Administrative Review Board (ARB) that is involved in whistleblower protection programs has shifted in recent months to lean more toward complainants, at a time when new appointees by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis have populated the board, experts who are paying close attention to the board findings have observed.
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OSHA has launched an extensive survey of private sector employers' safety and health management practices and plans to use the findings from the 19,000 employers it hopes to survey to bolster future rulemaking, primarily its injury and illness prevention program rule (I2P2), but some in industry worry OSHA may simply use the results to back up its own policy agenda.
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OSHA has formed an alliance with National Council of La Raza (NCLR) to find and fix potential OSHA violations, in what sources say is part of a broader effort on the agency's part to formally join forces with a specific worker intermediary organization to address hazards in a wide variety of industries. The parties are making clear, however, that the alliance is not intended for OSHA to endorse or promote any of the other party's products or services.
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California business interests oppose a proposal by California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to eliminate the Cal/OSHA Standards Board and change the agency's rulemaking process to make it similar to the federal model, as part of an extensive budget revision plan. Industry suggests that getting rid of the standards board would transfer too much rulemaking authority to the state plan's administrative arm and potentially open the process to litigation, depending on how it's handled.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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