Mining-sector employers and unions alike are backing the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) newly tightened standards for respirable crystalline silica (RCS), but both say implementation remains a key question, with one union urging strict enforcement while a trade group says the agency should align its approach with OSHA’s own silica rule.
Chemical industry groups, labor unions and a prominent public health group have filed separate petitions asking four different appellate courts to review EPA’s final TSCA risk management rule phasing out ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos, setting up a high-stakes lottery to determine which court will ultimately hear the precedent-setting case.
OSHA has posted online injury and illness tracking data from 2023 that employers provided as part of the first compliance cycle for its electronic recordkeeping and reporting rule earlier this year, a move the agency says will allow stakeholders to identify safety hazards though the agency is not yet providing its own analysis of the reports.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has denied a Texas contracting firm’s bid to overturn an OSHA trench-safety citation under the “unpreventable employee misconduct” (UEM) doctrine, backing the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission’s (OSHRC) application of a four-part test for employers to invoke that defense.
EPA has preliminarily determined that many activities that disturb legacy asbestos -- such as demolition of older buildings that were constructed with the material -- pose “unreasonable risk” to workers and others, potentially triggering new TSCA rules to protect them, according to a draft of the agency’s long-awaited “part 2” evaluation of the mineral.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has released its final update to 50-year-old standards for respirable crystalline silica (RCS), with more stringent reporting and monitoring mandates compared to a 2023 proposal, although it also extends compliance deadlines for operators, particularly those at smaller mines.
Environmentalists and their allies say EPA’s recently finalized updates to its Risk Management Program (RMP) rule leaves out many measures they believe are necessary to ensure it covers all facilities at risk of accidental releases, in particular because the agency rejected calls to expand the list of chemicals whose use at a site triggers RMP requirements.
A bill advancing in the California Legislature would require California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) to amend its hospital violence-prevention rules to require that facilities maintain metal detectors at certain entrances, and implement a number of supporting security measures.
Republican lawmakers are continuing their push-back against EPA’s draft risk evaluation of formaldehyde, with a new letter warning the agency that a potential workplace exposure limit is too stringent and could jeopardize a range of industrial sectors, while also raising concerns that any rule based on the review could conflict with Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) policies.
House Republicans have introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that seeks to roll back EPA’s controversial rule tightening many aspects of its risk management program (RMP) for chemical facilities, teeing up a statutorily mandated vote on the repeal in the coming weeks.
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved OSHA’s final rule updating the hazard communication standard (HCS) that governs safety labels for toxic, flammable and otherwise dangerous chemicals, after employers and trade groups warned that the 2021 proposal would massively expand data-gathering requirements.
OSHA has released an FAQ document that aims to clarify implementation details for its controversial rule allowing worker representatives to take part in “walkaround” inspections even if they are not employed at the site under review, including how non-unionized workers can select representatives and steps employers can take to avoid disclosure to outsiders.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) officials say they are still “committed” to strong implementation of existing indoor heat protections and ongoing efforts to bolster them, despite the likely forthcoming rejection by state administrators of a sweeping set of more stringent rules adopted by the agency’s standards board last month at a chaotic meeting.
EPA has formally published its TSCA chrysotile asbestos rule, starting a 60-day clock for potential court challenges and a rolling series of compliance deadlines for industries to phase out the mineral -- starting with bans on new imports or installation of several asbestos-based products that are now set to take effect in late November.
EPA will use an industry “workshop” next month to unveil standard “occupational exposure scenarios” (OES) developed by staff to assess potential worker exposures as part of its TSCA risk evaluations of existing chemicals -- a move that could help address industry complaints that those reviews greatly overstate occupational risks.
Critics of OSHA’s controversial rule to allow worker representatives to take part in enforcement “walkaround” inspections, even if they are not employed at the site under review, say changes to the final version did little to address their concerns, and one employer attorney says court challenges are now “all but guaranteed.”
Nine congressional Republicans and one Democrat are pressing EPA to loosen an exposure limit in its draft TSCA risk evaluation of formaldehyde, arguing that adopting the proposed figure would result in a “de facto ban” of the ubiquitous chemical despite the agency’s statements that it will consider costs and practicability in any rule based on the review.
OSHA has released the final version of its controversial rule to allow worker representatives to take part in enforcement “walkaround” inspections even if they are not employed at the site under review, making only minimal changes from the 2023 proposal while laying out counterarguments to employers’ claims that the new policy is illegal or unconstitutional.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) final rule updating 50-year-old standards for respirable crystalline silica (RCS) has cleared White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review, keeping it on track for the agency’s planned April release following years of pressure by unions and their allies.
OSHA has extended the comment deadline for its proposed health and safety standards for “emergency responders” by 45 days, after dozens of state and local fire departments, as well as at least one employer-side law firm, sought more time to determine how the rule’s sweeping list of new and amended mandates would affect them or their clients.