OSHA's high-priority but controversial final rule seeking to limit workers' exposure to crystalline silica dust appears to be poised for imminent release after it cleared review by the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB), usually one of the last steps before such regulations can be promulgated.
September 17, 2026
As OSHA begins a long-awaited public hearing on its proposed beryllium rule, consumer and health groups are renewing their calls for the agency to expand regulatory requirements aimed at limiting workers' exposure to the metal, such as protective gear, but the groups are divided over the proposed safety thresholds.
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OSHA chief David Michaels is touting the benefits of the agency's stricter injury reporting rule after its first-year of implementation, but is warning that the many businesses that are still avoiding the rule's requirements could face increased noncompliance penalties once the agency raises its penalty amounts in an upcoming rule authorized by Congress.
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Appellate court judge Merrick Garland, President Obama's pick to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, is widely seen as deferential to OSHA and other agencies -- though he has ruled against OSHA in at least one high-profile enforcement action which the agency is still seeking to address.
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The Justice Department (DOJ) is taking a series of steps to bolster its civil enforcement efforts against workplace violations under federal environmental laws, adding to its high-priority effort to step up criminal enforcement against workplace safety violations under the pollution control statutes.
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OSHA is proposing a new interim rule establishing procedures for handling complaints from whistleblowers in the automobile sector who face unlawful retaliation, the latest in a series of steps the agency is taking to bolster protections for whistleblowers.
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A Texas oil and gas drilling company is renewing its push for OSHA to promulgate, and follow, a formal process governing citizen rulemaking petitions under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) after the agency denied its petition seeking a new safety standard that would require use of the company's proprietary technology and devices.
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The Obama administration is proposing to overhaul federal risk management plan (RMP) requirements in order to impose new mandates on industrial facilities to prevent and mitigate releases of harmful chemicals, but is rejecting advocates' long-running push to mandate use of “inherently safer” processes or regulate additional substances.
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Two lawyers are warning employers to expected stepped up enforcement and penalties by federal workplace safety regulators and are urging industry to review their environmental health and safety plans to ensure they comply with relevant regulatory requirements.
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OSHA officials have agreed to an oil industry request to extend the comment deadline on its proposed guidance for weighting scientific and other evidence used to assess chemicals' workplace health hazards and communicate those risks, though the additional time officials have granted falls short of the industry call for a 60-day extension.
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A key advisory committee is urging OSHA to strengthen its draft safety and health management guideline update, echoing calls from the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) to bolster the document's recommendations.
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OSHA on Friday announced that it will host a conference in Illinois to address workplace safety and health concerns for temporary worker.
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New OSHA guidelines for occupational safety and health management programs and industry-led OSH standards will be the topic of discussion at OSHA and industry events this week.
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The American Society of Safety Engineers, an occupational safety and health industry group, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health have released a new Spanish-language guide to help construction workers better understand how to protect themselves on the job.
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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and OSHA have released new resources to help employers better prevent fall injury and death when aerial lifts are being used.
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OSHA is requesting public comments on information collection requirements contained in its Walking and Working Surfaces Standard for General Industry.
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An OSHA hearing originally scheduled for this week on a proposed rule on occupational exposure to the chemical beryllium has been pushed back to March 21, according to the agency.
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OSHA will seek public input on a proposed chemical exposure rule this week, while industry will outline standards for hazard communication and methods to implement new OSHA requirements.
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A new report by Underwriters Laboratories offers an assessment of workplace safety and health on a state-by-state basis, aiding businesses in identifying issues that can be managed through health and safety frameworks and prevent workplace injury, illness and death.
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The American Society of Safety Engineers is “disappointed” OSHA has not completed a rulemaking that requires employers to adopt safety and health management programs, but sees updated guidelines on such programs as a positive step forward.
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