Daily News

Labor groups are urging OSHA to bolster inspections and training aimed at limiting harms to disaster relief workers after a study they conducted found that 85 percent of day laborers who worked in hurricane-impacted areas reported receiving no training for the worksites they were entering and more than a third of all workers in post-Harvey Houston reported being injured on the job.

Labor groups are calling for further clarity in a draft federal safety research agenda for construction workers, arguing in comments that the agenda does not identify strategies to address concerns or which research efforts should be prioritized -- especially for fall prevention -- and that further research worker safety practices during disasters should be included.

Even as he works to implement the Trump administration's deregulatory agenda, Labor Secretary (DOL) Alexander Acosta says he backs “common sense” safety and health regulations have an “important place in protecting Americans” and will not be eliminated, throwing a bone to labor advocates who seem to be warming up to the secretary.

“Americans should be trusted to exercise individual choice and have liberty to make decisions about the way they live their lives as a practical matter,” Acosta told the conservative Federalist Society's 2017 National Lawyers Convention on Nov. 16.

EPA is proposing for public comment multiple approaches to prioritize existing chemicals to enter the pipeline for high- or low-priority designation and potential risk evaluation as part of its new responsibilities under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), with some of the proposals reflecting ideas that have enjoyed past industry support.

Senate Democrats have introduced a bill seeking to ban asbestos -- even as EPA is working on a precedential risk evaluation of the substance under new responsibilities in the reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) -- in part because of concerns that President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the agency's toxics office wouldn't ban use of the substance often blamed for risks to workers.

An industry attorney expects that the Trump OSHA, in a future proposed rule, will seek to limit reporting requirements under the Obama administration's worker injury and illness reporting rule, by scaling back required documentation companies must submit and narrowing the scope of industries that must report certain data.

A pair of Democratic lawmakers are urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to deny an industry request for faster line speeds at poultry plants, backing labor arguments that poultry workers already suffer a higher rate of injuries in a sector where labor groups have long sought greater OSHA protections.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is backing parts of the Obama EPA's facility safety prevention rule to help facilities better prepare for worsening risks from flooding, saying companies should reassess their emergency planning and coordination with first responders and communities to ensure adequate planning for extreme weather.

Labor Secretary (DOL) Alex Acosta largely sidestepped calls from House Democrats to continue Obama OSHA worker safety priorities, including a possible rule addressing workplace violence in the healthcare sector and preserving an injury and illness reporting rule, though he reiterated a pledge of strong enforcement against worker safety violations.

A construction workers' union is backing the Trump OSHA's push to preserve its authority to cite controlling employers for violations affecting other companies' workers, arguing in an appeals court filing that legal precedent and industry practice support the agency's Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act authority to cite controlling employers.

The Department of Labor (DOL) in a new draft strategic plan is vowing that OSHA will “maintain a strong, effective enforcement program,” despite labor officials' concerns that enforcement will drop off as part of the Trump administration's broad deregulatory agenda.

New Jersey officials say the Department of Justice's (DOJ) input may be warranted after their criticism of an EPA-administered reporting law in the state's defense against environmentalist and labor groups' lawsuit seeking release of industrial facility data, in a case that could have broad implications for public disclosure of facility data.

OSHA has delayed for one additional year, until Nov. 10, 2018, a deadline for crane operators to comply with certification requirements so the agency may finish a rule to address industry and operators' concerns with a 2010 update to its cranes standard, despite criticism the delay poses safety risks and employers have had sufficient time to comply.

A public interest group has launched a database for tracking state prosecutions of cases stemming from workers' severe injuries and deaths in an effort to encourage similar prosecutions, amid long-standing criticism that OSHA penalties are inadequate to deter workplace safety violations and as the Trump OSHA has narrowed criteria for publication of worker fatality data.

The Trump Labor Department (DOL) is seeking to preserve OSHA's authority to cite so-called controlling employers for violations affecting another company's workers, arguing that the agency's authorizing statute and long-standing practice support the policy, in a lawsuit that an observer says re-opens debate on the OSHA enforcement policy.

A group representing trial lawyers is joining environmentalists and health advocates in urging EPA to expand the legacy and continuing uses of asbestos the agency plans to assess, as well as mineral types, suggesting they may bring new civil suits against manufacturers if the agency does not address those uses' potential risks to workers.

Despite high expectations for the Trump administration to rein in the Obama OSHA's emphasis on enforcement, industry attorneys are suggesting that Scott Mugno, the Fedex official tapped to lead the agency, may struggle to quickly ramp up compliance assistance, while labor groups say thorough vetting of his safety priorities is needed.

Former Obama OSHA officials are backing environmental and labor groups' lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's delay of an Obama EPA facility accident prevention rule, arguing in an amicus curiae brief that the delay will impair the agency's abilities to prevent and mitigate chemical disasters and violates federal law.

The Defense Department is strongly supporting OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) and backing industry calls for streamlining VPP through greater use of special government employees (SGEs), while also urging OSHA to publish data on the program's effectiveness to garner support from unions, which have faulted VPP as shifting resources from enforcement.

An industry attorney is acknowledging that the industrial facility fire sparked by Hurricane Harvey flood waters may complicate the Trump administration's effort to revise an Obama-era rule updating the agency's risk management plan (RMP) accident prevention program with new requirements, as environmentalists have argued the fire backs the need for the Obama rule.