The California Chamber of Commerce is advising employers to be aware of several new COVID-19 worker safety laws that will take effect in the state on Jan. 1, including sweeping legislation that mandates companies issue varying notices and carry out other responses for workplace COVID-19 infections.
September 17, 2026
OSHA is standing behind its refusal to classify cloth face coverings as personal protective equipment (PPE) subject to the same standards as medical gowns, respirators and other protective gear for workers, but is leaving the door open to reconsidering that decision if future research warrants it.
Date:
House and Senate Democrats say a bipartisan plan for short-term COVID-19 economic relief that includes a temporary federal liability waiver for employers against coronavirus-related lawsuits could help restart talks with the GOP, but the bill’s fate is in doubt as the White House and Senate Republican leadership are resisting the effort.
Date:
California employers and their attorneys are looking to a pending advisory panel to secure eased mandates in an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers from COVID-19 recently adopted by the state’s OSHA (Cal/OSHA) standards board, arguing that numerous provisions appear impossible to comply with and potentially illegal.
Date:
President-elect Joe Biden has named Obama-era OSHA chief David Michaels to his COVID-19 task force, drawing praise from labor and worker safety groups that say Michaels’ appointment shows that the new administration will focus on workplace protections in its pandemic response.
Date:
The family of an Iowa meat-packing worker who died of COVID-19 is claiming that the company violated OSHA standards and several laws by failing to mandate face coverings, social distancing and other protective measures, in addition to allegations that mangers bet money on how many employees would contract the disease.
Date:
Five Democratic senators are pushing the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to quickly craft a long-pending update to its silica standard in response to a recent Office of Inspector General (OIG) report that found its current policies to be “out of date” and insufficiently protective of workers’ health.
Date:
OSHA is touting a $1.5 million settlement in a criminal enforcement case centered on a worker’s 2016 death by crushing at an Alabama auto-parts plant, including a three-year judicially mandated timeline for the firm to improve hazardous energy control measures at the facility.
Date:
Oregon has formally enacted its emergency temporary standard (ETS) for COVID-19, broadening several requirements from a proposed version floated earlier in the fall and becoming the fourth state to advance targeted worker protection standards amid the pandemic, with compliance deadlines starting as soon as Dec. 7.
Date:
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is proposing to formally adopt a set of 14 safety standards for electric motor-driven mining equipment and related accessories that were crafted by voluntary standard-setting groups -- a step industry says will pave the way for rapid adoption of updated, safer technology.
Date:
New OSHA data on its COVID-19 enforcement shows the agency is most often citing employers for violating respiratory protection standards but rarely invokes the general duty clause, even as OSHA is claiming that it can use that authority to mandate distancing, face coverings and other measures not required in regulation.
Date:
The California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) standards board is poised to adopt an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers from COVID-19 amid 11th-hour calls by employer and industry groups to ease some requirements, and as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is ratcheting up restrictions on the public and businesses in response to soaring infections.
Date:
The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) is revising its rules governing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the office, including adding more opportunities to “toll” the deadline for a response, and changing how it handles unpaid fees.
Date:
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is readying a proposal that would codify its waiver program allowing poultry slaughterhouses to raise their maximum line speeds, setting the stage for the latest step in a long-running clash between the Trump administration and worker groups over the safety implications of higher speeds.
Date:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is among the contenders voicing interest in becoming labor secretary as President-elect Joe Biden begins to assemble his Cabinet, but industry and employer associations are warning Democrats that any nominee viewed as too far left could struggle to win confirmation in a closely divided Senate.
Date:
President-elect Joe Biden’s Department of Labor (DOL) transition team includes several Obama administration veterans along with union figures and California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) chief Doug Parker, bolstering predictions that OSHA will quickly return to Obama-era worker safety rulemaking priorities next year.
Date:
Attorneys representing employers are warning their clients to prepare for a rapid increase in OSHA enforcement and regulation as part of a broader realignment of the Department of Labor expected under President-elect Joe Biden’s administration following Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
Date:
President-Elect Joe Biden’s defeat of President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election sets up a quick reversal of several Trump OSHA policies including the agency’s decision not to craft an enforceable COVID-19 safety standard, along with likely moves to bolster its enforcement program and revive Obama-era rulemaking efforts.
Date:
OSHA has issued new guidance on how to use workplace ventilation systems to reduce exposures to the coronavirus, including efficiency targets for air filters and recommendations for fan use -- potentially adding specificity not only to its own policies but also to state ventilation mandates that have been criticized as too vague.
Date:
Employers’ attorneys are raising “numerous potential concerns” with California’s expected COVID-19 workplace safety standard, previewing potential comments they could file on companies’ behalf once the state releases a formal proposal, or issues they could argue in future litigation over a final rule.
Date: