The Labor Department’s (DOL) plan to shift some whistleblower investigators out of OSHA and into a newly created Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is raising questions about the proposal’s practical effects on investigations that may involve more than one statute, as well as how DOL will be able to handle a growing number of complaints.
Virginia has enacted a law requiring the development of a heat illness standard for indoor and outdoor workers by May 2028, joining a growing list of states that have established or are pursuing state-level heat standards amid uncertainty over whether OSHA will finalize a national standard proposed by the Biden administration.
A Democratic House lawmaker from Illinois is urging EPA to halt its plan to extend compliance deadlines for workplace exposure requirements for two solvents, arguing the agency’s proposal to extend these deadlines contained in Biden-era TSCA risk management rules will weak protections for workers.
OSHA has finalized its revocation of the “house falls” in marine terminals standard after it determined the standard is no longer necessary to protect employees working in marine terminals from occupational safety and health hazards -- the first finalization of a score of deregulatory actions the agency proposed last year.
OSHA is urging a federal district court in Texas to dismiss for a range of procedural grounds a constitutional challenge to the OSH Act brought by a pair of produce groups in the state, or, if the court decides it has jurisdiction, to find that the OSH Act contains an “intelligible principle” and is constitutional.
California lawmakers are advancing a labor-backed bill to require a comprehensive academic study of California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) chronic “understaffing” and staff position vacancy rate, which would include recommendations on policies the state could pursue to bolster “career pathways” for such positions.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) recently confirmed that a judicial stay of Biden-era silica standards remains in effect while the agency engages in “limited rulemaking” to reconsider the 2024 rule, although legal experts note uncertainty over MSHA’s future actions remains.
OSHA has issued a revised version of its National Emphasis Program (NEP) for heat-related hazards after allowing a Biden-era version of the NEP to lapse, cutting the overall number of industries targeted by the program and removing a mandate to increase inspections.
California lawmakers are advancing a bill to require California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) to develop new rules to protect outdoor workers from “transboundary” pollution -- specifically hazards posed by untreated sewage and industrial wastewater that cross the border from Baja California in Mexico.
OSHA has allowed the Biden-era heat National Emphasis Program (NEP) to expire even as it remains unclear when or if the agency will finalize a national heat illness and injury standard, although legal experts note that even without the NEP, OSHA could still take enforcement action under the General Duty Clause.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is asking Congress for $348.2 million in fiscal year 2027, a $37.6 million cut from FY26 enacted levels of $378.8 million, while emphasizing increased investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and other actions to make the agency more efficient.
OSHA is proposing to remove a deadline for certain fixed ladders to be equipped with personal fall arrest systems or ladder safety systems and is seeking comment on repealing or revising the requirement, after industry groups petitioned the agency to “grandfather” already-installed fixed ladders with cages or wells.
The Labor Department is proposing a $46.9 million cut to OSHA’s overall budget in fiscal year 2027 while emphasizing increased investment in compliance assistance programs and in artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics that the agency says will allow it to use its limited resources more effectively.
Employers and worker-safety groups are providing final comments on California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) proposal to update its workplace inspection “walkaround” rules governing in part who can serve as employee representatives during visits, with some calling for a pause to the process until litigation over federal OSHA’s walkaround rule is resolved.
OSHA’s construction-sector advisory panel is rejecting key deregulatory measures the agency is planning for the sector, unanimously opposing a plan to rescind the construction illumination standard while narrowly opposing plans to eliminate medical evaluation requirements for certain respirators and make changes to chemical-specific standards.
The D.C. Circuit has dismissed the Labor Department’s (DOL) attempt to preserve broad authority over enforcement of mine safety standards, finding it lacks jurisdiction to hear a pair of consolidated cases on the issue because the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC) has not yet issued final decisions.
Two labor unions have dropped their challenges to a Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out most uses of the solvent trichloroethylene (TCE), saying their concerns are better addressed through a planned rulemaking but that they will remain in the consolidated litigation as intervenors supporting the agency.
D.C. Circuit judges focused their questions at March 30 oral argument on case-specific issues in an oil and gas drilling specialty contractor’s challenge to an OSHA citation stemming from a 2022 accident where a pipe ruptured at a gas well in south Texas, rather than engage with the firm’s broader challenge to the General Duty Clause.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued its first-ever corporate disclosure policy encouraging criminal violators to come forward and win “rewards” for self-disclosing wrongdoing, a shift that better aligns with the Trump administration’s broader compliance stance at OSHA and other agencies, industry attorneys say.
As the Trump administration works to revise Biden-era TSCA risk management rules for carbon tetrachloride (CTC or CCl4) and perchloroethylene (perc or PCE), EPA is proposing to extend compliance deadlines for workplace exposure requirements until June 2027.