Daily News

OSHA is considering grandfathering older trucks from any new standards it may develop as it works to update its long-time industrial truck safety rules, an approach the agency says it is considering as it works to limit any potential new costs to employers.

EPA says its decision to shift its assessment of formaldehyde from its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program, known for its conservative and broad hazard assessments, to its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) program, which is likely to narrow any assessment, is justified because it could result in new rules.

But any rules are unlikely to address worker safety as the agency is declining to assess risks and regulate them if they are already addressed by another agency, such as OSHA.

A federal court in Oklahoma has agreed to a joint request from OSHA and industry groups to review the agency's revised recordkeeping and reporting rule, opening the door to a court split on the issue as another court in Washington, DC, prepares to review competing claims over the rule from state officials and citizen groups.

A coalition convened by NIOSH is calling for more research to limit workplace harms for firefighters, law enforcement and other public safety workers, prioritizing research on ways to reduce chronic and infectious diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, motor vehicle injuries and workplace violence, an issue that Democrats are also seeking to address.

With the backing of the Labor Department, major manufacturing and agriculture industry groups are asking a federal judge to resume their stayed litigation challenging OSHA's reporting and recordkeeping rule, with the industry groups signaling that the Trump administration rollback of the Obama-era measure they originally challenged did not go far enough.

Groups representing major industries are urging EPA to quickly finalize its rollback of an Obama administration rule that strengthened the Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility accident prevention program, fearing expected litigation over the rollback could extend beyond some of the existing RMP rule’s compliance deadlines.

House Democrats appear likely to step up their oversight of EPA’s implementation of the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) after the agency sidestepped their calls to ban workplace uses of methylene chloride in paint strippers, an action they said would not protect workers.

Facing widespread criticism that its first-time ban on consumer uses of paint strippers containing methylene chloride does not protect workers, the agency's top toxics official is leaving the door open to taking future action to limit workplace risks under the revised toxics law though she stopped short of pledging to ban the chemical's commercial uses that many critics are seeking.

“We are very concerned about exposures in the workplace, however this chemical has been used in the workplace,” Alexandra Dunn, EPA's toxics chief, told reporters on a March 15 conference call.

A just-issued analysis of new OSHA data from a labor group shows a drop in the agency's “complicated and high-impact inspections” and a “historic low” number of inspectors even as workplace fatalities increased, suggesting a road map for lawmakers as they weigh the agency's budget request to hire nearly three dozen new inspectors and other personnel.

In a March 14 report, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) found that OSHA’s enforcement has been on a steady decline since FY17.

Correction Appended

State and local emergency response officials are renewing their call for EPA to promulgate an accident prevention rule to address chemical spills under the Clean Water Act (CWA), criticizing the agency's decision to drop plans for such a rule as a dereliction of duty and arguing recently released EPA data does nothing to support the agency's decision.

Correction Appended

Republicans and the chemical industry are rejecting Democrats' calls to require industry to share data with first responders under the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, a step intended to fill the gap left by EPA's planned rollback of an Obama-era risk management plan (RMP) rule.

The Trump administration is requesting a slight increase for OSHA’s overall budget for fiscal year 2020, with some additional funds aimed at hiring new whistleblower and facility inspectors in high-hazard industries, a plan that is likely to ease concerns from Democrats, who have highlighted what they say is the agency's inadequate inspection force.

The Labor Department (DOL) is asking a federal court to stay litigation brought by state and citizen groups challenging OSHA's bid to delay provisions of the Obama-era recordkeeping rule for 2017 until after the court resolves the groups' separate challenge to the Trump administration's measure rolling back the rule's requirements.

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in a new dissent claims there is “mounting criticism” of the Chevron principle that gives primacy to OSHA and other agencies’ interpretations of unclear laws, raising the stakes for pending cases that could give the court’s strengthened conservative majority an opening to narrow or scrap the doctrine.

Heather MacDougall, chair of the administrative commission that reviews OSHA penalties and citations, has announced plans to resign in the coming weeks, a move that will leave the panel without a quorum -- and unable to rule on several pending cases -- as another member's term is slated to expire.

MacDougall told an American Bar Association meeting on Occupational Safety and Health Law in San Juan, PR, March 6 that she is resigning as chairman of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC).

In a precedent-setting decision, OSHA’s review commission has, for the first time, upheld the agency's use of General Duty Clause authority to address a fatal workplace violence incident, but the commission's chair, in a concurrent opinion, strongly urged the agency to promulgate a workplace violence standard, underscoring lawmakers' calls.

In a split decision, OSHA's review commission has reversed an agency citation issued under its General Duty Clause authority that sought to penalize a construction company whose employee died from heat stress, a ruling that labor advocates say raises the bar for such cases and shows the need for OSHA to develop a heat stress prevention standard.

The Justice Department (DOJ) is asking the Supreme Court to retain a limited form of judicial deference for OSHA and other agencies’ interpretations of their rules rather than scrapping the doctrine altogether as conservatives, industry groups and others have urged, warning that deference is needed to ensure “certainty and stability” for nationwide rules.

House Democrats are planning to quickly advance legislation setting deadlines for OSHA to craft a standard addressing workplace violence in the healthcare sector, but the legislation is facing stiff opposition from Republicans, suggesting that pending companion legislation in the Senate is unlikely to advance.

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), the lead sponsor of H.R. 1309, told reporters during a Feb. 27 conference call that the legislation is a priority for the Education and Labor Committee, which is aiming to get the bill passed in the House by May 1.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers, along with Trump administration officials, agreed during a Feb. 27 hearing on the need for a long-term reauthorization of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) chemical facility safety program but lawmakers appeared divided on whether to provide additional regulatory flexibility to industrial facilities.