Daily News

OSHA is seeking nominations for more than a dozen slots on its advisory committee that provides input on rules governing workplace safety in construction sector, amid controversy that the Trump administration is generally sidelining use of such panels leading to an “insular” approach to decisionmaking.

Appellate court judges have again granted environmentalists' request to force quick implementation of an Obama-era rule tightening facility safety requirements, expediting its ruling that struck down a Trump administration effort to delay the rule's effectiveness by almost two years while the agency considers whether to undo the stricter mandates.

As floodwaters from Hurricane Florence threaten industrial facilities in the Carolinas, the City of Houston, House Democrats, and former EPA staff are strongly opposing the Trump administration's rollback of an Obama-era rule strengthening EPA's facility accident prevention program, arguing it would make facilities more vulnerable to flooding.

OSHA is rejecting aspects of the Labor Department (DOL) Office of Inspector General's (OIG) calls to bolster its severe injury reporting program to ensure employers report severe injuries and abate hazards, arguing that the burden of accurate reporting lies with employers, which are not required to prove hazards have been abated, and that existing agency guidance is adequate.

The dispute over the OIG report underscores a related fight over broader Trump administration efforts to limit Obama-era policies aimed at strengthening reporting and record-keeping requirements.

The Senate has approved bicameral legislation that funds OSHA and other agencies in fiscal year 2019, providing the agency with a $5 million increase over FY18 levels, well above the Trump administration's request as well as House approved language.

Labor and public interest groups have delivered more more than 61,000 signatures to OSHA backing their petition lodged this summer urging the agency to craft a federal standard protecting workers from exposure to excessive heat, citing risks to workers responding to Hurricane Florence and other extreme weather events spurred by climate change.

OSHA is urging a federal court to reject a public interest group's request for preliminary injunction to compel the Trump administration to implement delayed requirements of an Obama-era worker injury and illness reporting rule, arguing that its delay is reasonable and that the plaintiffs have not met the test for winning such an injunction.

A divided National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is proposing a rule that would raise the bar for determining when contractors, franchisers and other entities are considered “joint employers,” opening the door to subjecting them to workplace safety and other requirements, arguing the rule will clarify existing confusion.

OSHA and EPA are crafting a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to guide consultations between the two agencies on protections to workers who may be exposed to new chemicals that EPA is reviewing under the revised toxics law to determine whether and under what conditions they should enter the market.

The two agencies are working on an MOU to facilitate consultation on workplace protections as directed in Congress' 2016 revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), James Votaw, a partner with law firm Keller and Heckman LLP, tells InsideOSHA.

A plastics industry attorney expects that the Trump administration will not advance an Obama-era plan to expand when OSHA's safety standard applies to power equipment that is shut off during repair work, noting that OSHA did not hold a required hearing on the change, and that the agency may instead seek changes to ease the burdens of the existing rule.

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) is seeking public input on a variety of possible changes to its rules of procedure, including broadening the definition of an “affected employee,” which labor groups have long sought and that could expand the scope of cases stemming from multi-employer job sites.

Senate Republicans have introduced a bill to reauthorize a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) facility safety program that would streamline compliance for certain facilities, but rejects calls from House Democrats and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to bolster the disclosure of facility data to first responders.

Public Citizen is advancing a pair of lawsuits seeking to compel the Trump administration to implement an Obama-era worker injury and illness reporting rule, urging a district court to order OSHA to start collecting employers' detailed data on worker injuries and illnesses, while also seeking summaries of that data the agency has already collected.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, is defending his decisions governing OSHA and other agency regulations from his years-long record on a key appellate court, but he is drawing strong criticism from Democratic senators, who charge he will undermine regulatory protections.

EPA, chemical manufacturers, and GOP-led states are urging a federal appellate court to reject environmentalists' request to compel the agency to quickly implement an Obama-era update to the agency's facility accident prevention rule, arguing petitioners have failed to show the rare move is needed and that a prior RMP rule reduces risks.

A federal appellate court has withdrawn its order striking down the Trump EPA's delay of an Obama-era rule tightening facility safety requirements, saying it “inadvertently” issued its mandate, a procedural step finalizing its ruling, following environmentalists' request and will give EPA and other litigants one day to oppose advocates' request.

As the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to launch hearings, labor groups and their Democratic backers are vowing to strongly oppose Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, citing in part his record that they say shows he has backed employers over OSHA, though they face a high bar as the GOP controls the Senate.

An industry attorney says that an administrative law judge's (ALJ) recent ruling highlights liability concerns that staffing agencies face if deemed “exposing employers” under OSHA's multi-employer enforcement policy, a focus of Obama-era enforcement that agency staff has not shown signs of backing off of during the Trump administration.

Environmentalists and Democratic-led states are threatening to sue EPA if the agency does not drop its plan to roll back the Obama-era rule strengthening the agency's facility accident prevention program, citing the recent appellate ruling vacating EPA's measure delaying the rule's implementation.

As a federal appellate court weighs the Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) standing to sue, the group is moving to drop its suit challenging the agency's draft framework for reviewing new chemicals under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), arguing that EPA has decided not to implement the framework.