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A healthy food group is challenging the safety record of a demonstration facility that is operating under an Agriculture Department (USDA) regulatory waiver program as the agency considers a planned rule that would ease oversight and increase line speeds at swine processing facilities, charging the facility lost “process control,” and found increased contamination and personnel hazards when line speeds increased.

OSHA has submitted a final version of the Trump administration’s plan to scale-back Obama-era beryllium standards to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, just as slag- and non-slag abrasive producers are intensifying their battle over which products would trigger the rule's safety requirements.

EPA is touting a list of more than two dozen federal rules from 1983 to 2013 in which agencies have delayed existing regulations while weighing revisions to those policies, in response to an appellate court order to provide the list in a suit testing EPA's delay of an Obama-era facility safety rule while the agency reconsiders the regulation.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is warning that a draft EPA rule allowing a new use of an existing chemical fails to adequately assess risks to workers and is “legally vulnerable,” suggesting a new chemical-specific path for groups to challenge EPA's approval of new chemical uses under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

Six states operating under OSHA-approved state plans have yet to adopt their own rules to implement the Obama OSHA's March 2016 regulation updating limits for exposure to silica, raising legal questions and warnings from observers that it poses a significant “compliance dilemma” and jeopardizes workers' safety.

Several of the states, including Arizona, Hawaii, Utah, Wyoming and Washington, are in various stages of the process of developing their own rules adopting an equivalent standard, though they are still far from the September 2016 deadline for doing so.

Critics of President Donald Trump's executive order (EO) forcing OSHA, EPA and other agencies to identify two existing rules for repeal for every new rule they issue are adding to their district court complaint over the EO, citing alleged harm from several agencies' delayed rulemaking efforts that the plaintiffs argue are a direct result of the order.

OSHA has ordered a Boston based flight company to reinstate a pilot who was terminated after reporting violations of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules but who was protected under federal whistleblower laws, a “highly rare exception” according to government watchdog groups who are seeking to strengthen the agency's authorities.

Industry and public health advocates are skeptical that a Trump administration plan to create a new OSHA and EPA working group will better inform first responders of facilities' safety risks, with industry arguing EPA's facility accident prevention program already addresses the risk while an advocate is criticizing officials for rolling back Obama-era efforts to update the program.

EPA's Inspector General is launching a review of the agency's implementation and enforcement of its rule governing protections for contractors from lead paint dust during residential renovation and repairs, just as the agency is scrambling to comply with a court order to strengthen the rule's standard for determining when they must comply with the rule's safety requirements.

Industry attorneys say a slow nomination process has left Labor Secretary Alex Acosta to push the Trump administration's deregulatory agenda “without anywhere close to a full house,” and to expect a “minimalist deregulatory” approach and little policy changes from OSHA as the agency awaits Senate confirmation of permanent leadership.

Appellate judges hearing litigation over EPA's two-year delay of Obama-era revisions to the agency's facility safety rule are demanding that the Trump administration provide a list of all federal agency rules prior to 2017 where effective dates of existing rules were changed solely to allow time for a potential reconsideration of those regulations.

Updated Story

Manufacturers of slag abrasives used for industrial blasting, cleaning and other purposes are making an 11th-hour push to roll back OSHA's beryllium rule, releasing a new study that even non-slag abrasives, which some have suggested may be a safer alternative, contain beryllium, and that “unnecessary regulations” impact the entire industry “regardless of material used.”

A new study linking low-level lead exposure with increased risk of adult deaths from cardiovascular disease could help EPA strengthen its cost-benefit analyses and drive new or updated rules to address the metal, including a measure addressing lead paint in public and commercial (P&C) buildings where the agency is struggling to assess risks to adults.

Nearly a year after missing a court deadline, EPA is renewing its calls to indefinitely delay a decision on whether it must regulate lead-based paint in public and commercial (P&C) buildings, even as it faces a steep deadline later this month to propose a companion measure updating its standards for lead paint in residential buildings.

Brushing aside administration requests to slash agency funding, Congress appears poised to approve an omnibus spending package for OSHA and other agencies before a looming March 23 deadline, moving quickly to approve a $1.3 trillion spending bill that provides a small overall increase for OSHA.

The final bill also drops OSHA-related policy riders that some Republicans had sought but which Democrats, whose votes were crucial to the bill's passage, strongly opposed.

Worker safety groups are renewing their push to kill a Trump administration proposal to allow faster line speeds at swine processing plants, charging that the risk analysis accompanying the proposal is not complete because the agency failed to provide an external peer review as required by the Office of Management and Budget.

Responding to calls from Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), OSHA, EPA and other agencies have agreed to take steps to improve notifications to first responders when a local company is cited for serious violations involving flammable materials, likely clearing the way for OSHA nominee Scott Mugno to secure a confirmation vote.

Democrats are stepping up efforts to codify Obama-era policies requiring federal agencies to reject contractors that fail to comply with workplace safety and other labor rules on a sector-by-sector basis after President Trump and congressional Republicans rescinded a government-wide executive order (EO) that barred firms with poor safety records from receiving contracts.

Rep.-elect Conor Lamb's (D) surprise victory in last week's special election in Pennsylvania -- with significant labor union support on a platform that included strong support for worker safety rules -- is bolstering efforts by labor groups seeking to build support for the issue in upcoming 2018 elections.

“Winning elections is only the first step,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a March 15 statement. “Winning pro-worker policies is the ultimate goal.”

Appellate court judges appear to be backing the Trump administration's authority to delay the Obama-era rule strengthening EPA's facility accident prevention program, but some are questioning why the agency needs a two-year delay, suggesting it should quickly revise a controversial provision and allow other new protections to take effect.