Daily News

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is pledging to renew efforts to get the Defense Department (DOD) to weigh contractors' safety records before awarding contracts after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found a series of contractor violations as well as problems with OSHA and DOD tracking systems.

Environmentalists are charging that the Trump administration’s process for approving new chemicals under the recently revised toxics law without restrictions fails to adequately address risks to workers, building on long-standing opposition to the new chemicals review process as Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler has pledged revisions.

An Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) has upheld a penalty OSHA imposed on a healthcare facility under its General Duty authority for not adequately addressing workplace violence, highlighting the issue just as House Democrats prepare to push newly reintroduced legislation requiring the agency to craft a workplace violence standard.

Cal/OSHA officials are planning to convene an advisory committee this spring to provide advice on ways to permanently preserve the goals of the Obama administration's reporting and recordkeeping rule after determining that the Trump administration's rollback, which takes effect later this month, “substantially diminished” the requirements.

The state agency announced earlier this month that it is forming the advisory committee to help “implement the changes necessary to protect the goals” of the Obama OSHA's 2016 recordkeeping rule.

The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) and environmental groups are suing to compel the Trump administration to finalize EPA’s Obama-era proposed ban on use of methylene chloride in paint strippers, claiming that the June 2016 revised toxics law requires the agency to protect workers from unreasonable risks.

Construction and other industry groups are welcoming OSHA's recent announcement that it will delay for 60 days enforcing documentation requirements for its new crane operator certification regulation, though some groups had urged the agency to provide a much longer period.

Exxon Mobil is urging an appellate court to uphold a ruling that barred the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) from enforcing document requests about chemicals that are stored on site but not released as a result of an incident, arguing the Clean Air Act does not provide CSB with power to subpoena for documents related to “potential” releases.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is urging the Trump administration to ensure that EPA’s final rule banning use of methylene chloride in paint strippers protects workers by covering most commercial uses, fearing that the agency is likely to rely on a proposed training program in lieu of a comprehensive ban on the substance’s paint-stripping uses.

Citing worker safety and other risks, food safety advocates are urging the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to halt approval of line speed wavers for poultry processing plants and to reopen the comment period for a 2014 final rule after a Georgia plant was granted a waiver despite failing a required safety inspection.

Labor groups are petitioning the Trump administration to retract a proposed Labor Department (DOL) rule easing child labor safety laws in the health sector because it violates the Information Quality Act (IQA), a little-used law that courts have found to be unenforceable, though advocates say the petition could bolster a future suit under other laws.

Taking a page out of Republicans' playbook, House Democrats are trying to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to rescind the Trump OSHA's rule rolling back Obama-era recordkeeping requirements, a messaging exercise as the effort will almost certainly not be considered in the GOP-controlled Senate.

House Democrats have reintroduced and expanded legislation seeking to strengthen the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act by covering additional workers and bolstering protections for whistleblowers while also enhancing penalties, though an employers’ attorney suggests the bill is unlikely to pass the Senate or reach the president’s desk.

Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC), incoming chairwoman of the House subcommittee overseeing worker safety is aiming to ensure vigorous OSHA enforcement, block Trump administration rollback of worker safety rules and reduce opioid abuse among construction workers but says boosting the minimum wage is her top priority.

NIOSH in a new research plan is outlining steps for addressing research gaps preventing regulators from better understanding nanomaterials’ potential risks to workers, while also noting that continued introductions of novel nano-scale substances present an ongoing challenge to understanding and addressing risks.

A federal district judge is ordering the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) to issue within one year a final rule requiring chemical facilities to report their accidental releases, backing health and public interest groups’ claims that CSB has unreasonably delayed the rule that could inform worker protections and is mandated by law.

OSHA has begun using drones to help determine whether to initiate inspections at a time when they may lack adequate resources, though the trend is prompting concern from industry attorneys, who say it could increase inspections for outdoor workplaces when the drones observe hazards in “plain view.”

During a webinar last month, industry attorneys said OSHA will still need employers' permission to surveil properties using drones though they may be able to use information from drones in public areas to help determine whether to initiate an investigation.

The Trump administration has dropped planned rollbacks of Obama-era EPA pesticide rules intended to provide farmworkers with similar protections to workers in industries regulated by OSHA, part of a deal with Democratic senators to win confirmation for the Trump administration’s pick to lead EPA’s toxics office.

Labor supporters are warning that the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) plan to narrow its definition of when contractors and franchisees are “joint employers” subject to labor laws is unlawful, adding to their concern that the proposal could limit OSHA's ability to enforce worker safety requirements.

The Senate health committee is planning to hold another hearing to consider the nomination of Scott Mugno, the former FedEx executive who the Trump administration first nominated to lead OSHA in 2017, though sources say his prospects for confirmation remain dim as senators remain at odds over labor policy personnel and other issues.

Mugno will have a difficult time reaching the Senate floor for a vote because Democrats “will continue to block [Mugno] unless some deal is made,” says Eric Conn, an employer-side attorney with the firm Conn Maciel Cary.

House Democrats have tapped Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC), a key player in Democrats' successful efforts to block a legislative waiver for agriculture retailers from OSHA's process safety management (PSM) standard, to lead the subcommittee that will oversee OSHA and worker safety issues in the 116th Congress.

Her appointment is crucial as Democratic leaders are renewing their promises to conduct aggressive oversight of the Trump administration's deregulatory agenda at OSHA and other agencies, as well as states' worker safety programs.