The International Surface Fabricators Association (ISFA) is proposing to develop a nationwide program to certify and license shops that cut fabricated stone containing crystalline silica to ensure the practice is performed safely and prevents the lung disease silicosis, countering advocacy groups in California that are seeking a total ban on the products.
September 16, 2026
OSHA is extending by four months compliance deadlines in its revised hazardous communications standard (HCS) because officials are still crafting guidance for both the regulated community and agency personnel, a move that is drawing praise from chemical distributors that have been pressing for the pending guidance.
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OSHA is urging the 4th Circuit to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of South Carolina’s challenge to the agency’s requirement that states match annual increases to federal minimum and maximum OSH Act penalties, arguing the state missed the deadline to file its suit.
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OSHA has corrected “several inadvertent errors” in its 2024 hazard communication standard (HCS) that it identified following a previous technical amendment to the rule, including minor errors in the regulatory text as well as appendices to the standard.
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The 6th Circuit in an unpublished opinion has remanded to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) two contested items of an OSHA citation against a paper company after finding an administrative law judge (ALJ) failed to cite adequate evidence to support her conclusions that OSHA correctly issued the citations.
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A panel of three 5th Circuit judges appeared skeptical during Jan. 8 oral argument of the Labor Department’s (DOL) position that OSHA properly cited ExxonMobil for violations of reporting requirements when the company failed to record the mental health diagnosis of an employee following a December 2021 explosion and fire.
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Congressional appropriators in newly released report language are directing EPA’s TSCA program to revise its standing memorandum of understanding (MOU) with OSHA to better clarify how the agencies coordinate on EPA’s workplace analyses and rules and for EPA to be more transparent in its TSCA new chemical reviews.
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California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) is advancing this year high-profile worker-protection rules that are drawing close scrutiny from employer and employee advocacy groups, including legislatively required measures to prevent workplace violence, heat illness and harms from wildfire smoke.
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A recent decision from an Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission administrative law judge (ALJ) that vacated citations against a company operating a marine terminal in North Carolina provides additional clarity on statute of limitations arguments, even though the citations were overturned on other grounds, legal experts say.
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A new survey conducted by the National Safety Council (NSC) has found a strong connection between Long COVID symptoms and workplace injuries, prompting the organization to outline ways of mitigating the risks associated with the condition that can increase harms to workers.
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A landmark agreement between labor unions and a paint manufacturer over Biden-era TSCA worker protection requirements for using trichloroethylene (TCE) is facing a potential challenge from EPA, which is pressing an appellate court to give it a chance to oppose the deal, which the agency says would require the court to set a new standard.
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A court-appointed amicus curiae is urging the D.C. Circuit to reject the Labor Department’s (DOL) efforts to reverse several decisions from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC) that spurned the DOL secretary’s changes to health and safety citations in enforcement settlements with mining companies.
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OSHA is weighing whether to seek rehearing of an 8th Circuit ruling that found the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) preempts OSHA from regulating worker safety around railcars, telling the court the decision “raises significant and complex issues concerning the respective responsibility of OSHA” and FRA.
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The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is recommending that U.S. Steel conduct a siting evaluation and ensure that all documented facility siting hazards are mitigated even before the board completes its investigation of a fatal explosion at a Pennsylvania coke facility that is not subject to OSHA rules.
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Multiple labor unions, along with environmental and public health groups, are urging key members of Congress not to reopen TSCA for further reforms that might weaken the law beyond reauthorizing EPA’s user fee authority, as they charge the chemical industry is lobbying legislators to weaken worker protections.
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Employer-focused attorneys say they expect California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) to take additional and more aggressive enforcement actions in the coming year, including a potential new focus on criminal prosecutions, as a result of the agency recently filling long-vacant inspector and other positions.
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The D.C. Circuit’s recent ruling that presidents can remove at will members of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) lays the groundwork for a potential similar ruling regarding the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), experts say.
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OSHA is confirming in a new Federal Register notice that Tennessee OSHA (TOSHA) has assumed authority over worker safety and health of non-federal employees performing work at former Energy Department (DOE) facilities in the state, adding new details to a pair of OSHA-DOE agreements on transferring such authority.
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A petition to California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board seeking a ban on artificial stone slabs containing more than 1 percent crystalline silica to prevent more cases of the deadly lung disease silicosis is sparking new debate over whether a ban is appropriate or if state officials should substantially ramp up enforcement of worker-safety standards.
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Two recent press releases highlight the Trump OSHA’s focus on publicizing preventable harms to workers, noting citations and fines to companies that repeatedly, and in one case willfully, failed to protect workers, even as some observers expect such releases, viewed by critics as “regulation by shaming,” to become even less common.
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