NIOSH in a new research plan is outlining steps for addressing research gaps preventing regulators from better understanding nanomaterials’ potential risks to workers, while also noting that continued introductions of novel nano-scale substances present an ongoing challenge to understanding and addressing risks.
September 17, 2026
A federal district judge is ordering the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) to issue within one year a final rule requiring chemical facilities to report their accidental releases, backing health and public interest groups’ claims that CSB has unreasonably delayed the rule that could inform worker protections and is mandated by law.
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OSHA has begun using drones to help determine whether to initiate inspections at a time when they may lack adequate resources, though the trend is prompting concern from industry attorneys, who say it could increase inspections for outdoor workplaces when the drones observe hazards in “plain view.”
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The Trump administration has dropped planned rollbacks of Obama-era EPA pesticide rules intended to provide farmworkers with similar protections to workers in industries regulated by OSHA, part of a deal with Democratic senators to win confirmation for the Trump administration’s pick to lead EPA’s toxics office.
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Labor supporters are warning that the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) plan to narrow its definition of when contractors and franchisees are “joint employers” subject to labor laws is unlawful, adding to their concern that the proposal could limit OSHA's ability to enforce worker safety requirements.
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The Senate health committee is planning to hold another hearing to consider the nomination of Scott Mugno, the former FedEx executive who the Trump administration first nominated to lead OSHA in 2017, though sources say his prospects for confirmation remain dim as senators remain at odds over labor policy personnel and other issues.
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House Democrats have tapped Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC), a key player in Democrats' successful efforts to block a legislative waiver for agriculture retailers from OSHA's process safety management (PSM) standard, to lead the subcommittee that will oversee OSHA and worker safety issues in the 116th Congress.
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The Supreme Court is facing calls to end its long-standing precedent deferring to OSHA and other agencies' interpretations of their own rules, with a critic's opening legal brief urging the justices to scrap the “egregiously wrong” precedent because it allows regulators to change rules on a whim without notice-and-comment rulemaking.
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Hours after OSHA promulgated its rule rolling back the Obama administration's recordkeeping requirements, Public Citizen led an alliance of state and health groups in filing a lawsuit challenging the measure, charging it is “arbitrary and capricious” because of a series of alleged violations of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
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As the Trump OSHA prepares to promulgate its final rule rolling back Obama-era injury reporting requirements, it is facing a likely lawsuit alleging it violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and oversight from House Democrats who charge it undermines worker safety and its approval during the shutdown may have violated federal law.
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Labor groups are conferring with Democratic lawmakers over a possible challenge to the Trump administration's approval of OSHA's rule rolling back Obama-era reporting and recordkeeping requirements during the government shutdown, which they say may have violated the Antideficiency Act (ADA).
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Worker safety advocates are targeting states with high populations of temporary or contract workers to push for legislation strengthening their safety and other protections, using blueprints from recently approved measures in several states that focus on worker safety and create a path for the so-called gig workers to become permanent employees.
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White House officials have approved a final OSHA rule rolling back an Obama-era measure that requires employers to upload injury and illness data online rather than keep the data on a work site, clearing the way for an almost certain lawsuit that critics say has been bolstered by a prior challenge to agency efforts to delay the 2016 rule's implementation.
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For the second time since first nominating him, the White House has again renominated former FedEx executive Scott Mugno to lead OSHA, though his prospects for Senate confirmation remain dim due to partisan differences over Labor Department and other Trump administration nominees.
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House and Senate lawmakers have agreed to a one-year extension of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) ahead of a looming Jan. 19 deadline when the program's funding will expire, planning to use the next few months to debate potential legislative changes to CFATS.
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The Labor Department (DOL) is appealing an administrative law judge's (ALJ) decision voiding an OSHA citation against a security company for not requiring its armed guards to wear bulletproof vests, arguing in part that OSHA's 2014 policy expanding application of its personal protective equipment (PPE) standard to include bulletproof vests was applicable in this case.
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Public interest groups are suing EPA over its failure to ban paint-stripping uses of methylene chloride after finding that it does not meet the Toxic Substances Control Act's (TSCA) risk standard, marking one of the first legal tests of the agency's responsibilities to regulate toxic substances under the law since Congress revised it in 2016.
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Environmentalists fear a proposed EPA training program to limit commercial exposures to methylene chloride in paint strippers hints at a retreat from an Obama-era plan to prohibit the use outright, suggesting the agency will instead finalize a scaled-back ban that will allow some paint-stripping uses of the chemical despite potential risks to workers.
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House Democrats are vying to win seats on the newly renamed Education and Labor Committee, likely delaying a decision on who will lead the workforce protection subcommittee, which oversees OSHA, given the departure of Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), who was previously the panel's ranking member but who is now leading the veterans committee.
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Key House and Senate lawmakers are at odds over how to extend the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) chemical facility safety program, raising doubts that lawmakers will act before the program's authorization expires later this month.
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