Daily News

A California lawmaker is pursuing legislation to require the Cal/OSHA standards board to adopt new standards to protect outdoor workers from “transboundary” pollution, citing hazards posed by untreated sewage and industrial wastewater that crosses the border from Baja California in Mexico.

A coalition of construction sector groups is urging OSHA to allow formal comment on any recommendations that an agency advisory group may make on several pending deregulatory proposals, including medical evaluation requirements in respiratory protection and specific chemical rules.

A former Energy Department (DOE) employee with extensive background in worker safety and health is urging officials to withdraw a proposed rule aimed at expediting the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors, arguing the proposal does not provide the level of safety the law requires for DOE contractor workers.

New Mexico is proposing to strengthen its proposed heat illness and injury prevention rule by adding a new section on presumption of violation, advancing the measure ahead of its formal adoption later this year, the latest in a growing number of such state regulations while the future of an OSHA heat standard remains uncertain.

OSHA is touting the launch of its new OSHA Cares compliance assistance initiative that it says is focused on helping businesses meet federal workplace safety requirements while also building strong, successful safety and health programs that benefit employers and workers.

The Trump EPA is defending a Biden-era decision to exclude requirements for chemical exposure disclosures to workers from a TSCA framework rule for conducting pre-market risk reviews of new chemicals, arguing to a federal appeals court that labor unions’ push for such disclosures is outside the scope of the rule.

A Colorado House panel has advanced legislation aimed at pushing back on Trump OSHA regulatory rollbacks by enshrining in state law a broad interpretation of the federal General Duty Clause, although it remains uncertain whether the bill can reach the Senate, in part because it currently lacks a Senate sponsor.

A coalition of workplace safety organizations, led by the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA), is petitioning OSHA to update through direct final rules references to several independent consensus standards for personal protective equipment (PPE) and first aid kits.

A group of 16 Republican senators, led by Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA), is urging OSHA to consider a range of constituent-raised concerns about the Biden-era proposed heat standard as the agency discusses “pragmatic solutions for preventing heat-related hazards in the workplaces.”

OSHA has appointed new members to a slimmed-down Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) and will brief the panel at a March 31-April 1 meeting on several proposed and soon-to-be proposed rules to amend requirements related to the use of respirators.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is reviewing proposed changes to a Biden-era Labor Department (DOL) rule requiring self-insured coal mine operators to secure 100 percent of their projected black lung liabilities, with a goal of easing the regulatory and financial burden for industry.

A Texas oil field equipment supplier is challenging the constitutionality of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) after receiving OSHA citations related to the death of a subcontractor’s employee, becoming the latest company seeking to expand the Supreme Court’s 2024 Jarkesy ruling.

The co-chairs of the House Labor Caucus are urging leaders of a newly formed Democratic AI commission to ensure that an upcoming policy framework for AI regulation includes protection of workers as a central tenet, pointing to the need to promote guardrails to ensure the promise of the technology is met.

The 4th Circuit has scheduled oral argument for May 5 in litigation where South Carolina is seeking to reinstate its challenge to OSHA’s requirement that states match annual increases to federal minimum and maximum OSH Act penalties after a federal judge last year dismissed for a second time the state’s challenge.

There is real potential for a “tug of war” between what OSHA chief David Keeling may want to do with affirmative rulemaking and what the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) might wish to see with deregulatory rulemaking, an employer-focused attorney says.

The Energy Department (DOE) has reopened the public comment period on proposed sweeping changes to its worker safety and health program aimed at expediting the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors in line with a Trump executive order, setting March 23 as the new comment deadline.

An employer-focused attorney is cautioning companies that a new OSHA compliance-assistance program is only a start to ensuring workplaces are following federal requirements, even as the agency continues to tout the program’s benefits.

The Agriculture Department (USDA) is proposing to increase the line speeds for processing poultry and swine following studies last year that found only a limited association between faster slaughterhouse line speeds and increased worker injuries, a move that is drawing praise from meatpackers but opposition from labor.

OSHA’s redesign of a poster that employers must post informing employees of the protections and obligations provided for in the OSH Act fails to provide information on some of employees’ most important rights and makes no mention of key employer responsibilities, Obama-era OSHA chief Jordan Barab says.

The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. 

The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto. The third test of pathauto.