Occupational health stakeholders suggest an executive order by President Obama to tighten chemical exposure levels for federal workers and on-site contractors -- as sought by a group of OSHA advisors -- could create momentum for OSHA to update permissible exposure limits (PELs) across the private sector. The call for the executive order comes as OSHA plans to publish a request for information (RFI) as early as August seeking advice from stakeholders on how to update decades-old PELs covering the private sector. OSHA's fledgling effort to update PELs -- now a central priority for agency chief D
