OSHA is seeking nominees to fill four seats on its National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH) that are slated to become vacant in January, just as the panel is ramping up its work to provide the agency with advice on a heat danger standard long sought by labor advocates and Democrats.
September 17, 2026
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is praising a recent set of draft Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) that they say appears to include EPA’s first-ever use of worker exposure protection levels, known as New Chemical Exposure Limits (NCEL), in TSCA regulations governing specific new chemical uses.
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The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) has upheld a General Duty Clause citation that OSHA filed against a Pennsylvania construction firm in the wake of a fatal equipment collapse, holding that the citation for failure to perform required maintenance is valid regardless of whether that failure caused the accident.
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Former EPA chemicals chief Steve Owens used his first public meeting as acting chief of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) to announce a slate of transparency initiatives for the independent agency, including publication of accidental-release reporting data it has been gathering since 2020.
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California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board plans to address concerns among board members, employers and others about “ambiguous” definitions in the agency’s draft long-term COVID-19 worker-safety regulation -- primarily what will be considered a “close contact” in “shared indoor airspace” -- even after officials released new guidance on the subject.
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Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee are proposing a $68 million fiscal year 2023 funding increase for OSHA in hopes of restarting long-stalled talks with the GOP on spending legislation, just as the chamber’s leaders are embracing a deal with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on a reconciliation bill that appears to exclude long-sought boosts to OSH Act penalties.
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced it is directly investigating workplace safety concerns and “related issues” at multiple Amazon warehouses, in the wake of a worker death at one of the company’s New Jersey facilities -- a step one Democratic lawmaker says is “exceptionally rare” and justifies a strict OSHA response as well.
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A Texas construction firm is suing over OSHA’s citation for a 2016 accident where a worker was seriously injured when a crane touched a live power line during disassembly, after the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) twice rejected the employer’s defenses -- including that the crane safety standard should not apply.
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OSHA chief Doug Parker told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a sworn July 25 declaration that his agency is “on track” to complete a long-term COVID-19 standard for healthcare workers by September or October, despite Labor Secretary Marty Walsh’s recent comments that the rule could take as long as five months.
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Environmental health experts at a recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) meeting said extensive new research is needed to identify the full range of workers exposed to toxic per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), based on newer studies suggesting exposure even for those who may not knowingly handle the chemicals directly.
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The Biden administration is highlighting early inspection figures from OSHA’s first-time National Emphasis Program (NEP) on heat danger as part of a broader push to showcase its climate policies amid a worldwide heat wave and the failure of Senate negotiations over clean-energy measures in a reconciliation spending bill.
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A trade group is calling on EPA to partner with OSHA on a reworked version of its proposed rule banning current uses of chrysotile asbestos, arguing that TSCA requires the two agencies to coordinate and gives a leading role to the work-safety agency, even as unions and public health advocates say OSHA’s asbestos limits too outdated to protect workers.
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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has released a handbook of workplace safety “best practices” for companies that employ temporary workers (TWs) hired through staffing firms, building on joint recommendations it issued with OSHA in 2014 and calling on employers to go “beyond compliance” in order to protect TWs.
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The coalition of unions suing OSHA to revive its COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) for the healthcare sector say the agency’s self-imposed timeline for a permanent rule appears at risk of slipping by as much as two months, citing comments by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh during a Senate appropriations hearing.
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California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) proposed workplace violence-prevention standard for “all industries” is coming under fire from state-level labor groups that say it is far narrower and less stringent than the agency’s existing rule that applies to healthcare facilities.
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Labor union representatives are attacking California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) proposal to remove “exclusion pay” requirements from its proposed long-term COVID-19 worker-safety regulation, saying that if the state drops its existing requirement to pay infected workers for time away from their duties many will come to work sick and further spread the virus.
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Major industry associations are calling on EPA to drop its proposed ban on current uses of chrysotile asbestos and instead agree that the notorious carcinogen can be “safe” with strong enough worker protections, signaling they may be uninterested in negotiating a phase-out even after previously backing legislation that would have imposed a ban.
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Employers are lining up against OSHA’s proposed withdrawal of federal approval for Arizona to operate an OSH Act state plan, saying the move has no reasonable basis and would undercut a “highly effective” program, while national unions and safety professionals are hailing the proposal as a necessary step for worker protections.
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Petrochemical and other industry groups are urging the White House not to tighten mandates under EPA’s risk management plan (RMP) program that requires facilities using very hazardous substances to follow plans to reduce risk of dangerous releases, as the agency moves toward reviving Obama-era policies that the Trump administration rescinded.
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The Labor Department (DOL) is outlining a process for workers to seek formal “statements of interest” asking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) not to enforce immigration laws against workers dealing with alleged OSHA standard violations or other “labor disputes” who fear retaliatory deportations or other penalties for whistleblowing.
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