A band of conservative House Republicans wants to freeze major new regulations until mid-2017 -- a plan that if passed could cripple OSHA priorities like new silica controls and electronic recordkeeping -- as a condition of raising the nation's debt ceiling as Washington hurtles toward the possibility of a first-ever debt default.
September 17, 2026
OSHA should work to close identified gaps in regulations to better safeguard above-ground storage tanks, federal chemical safety experts looking into the circumstances of a 2009 gasoline tank explosion in Puerto Rico say.
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An advocacy group for public-sector employees has filed a complaint with the federal government calling for an end to the months-long involuntary, paid administrative leave of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board's (CSB) top staff director, the latest turn in recent turmoil at the investigative agency charged with issuing workplace safety recommendations to prevent chemical disasters.
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Federal safety and health researchers are targeting musculoskeletal injuries, slips, trips and falls, and other major concerns in the aging work force as NIOSH launches a virtual center as part of the agency's Total Worker Health initiative, with officials hoping to partner with OSHA in developing new workplace informational materials.
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Many occupational health experts are urging OSHA to look into control banding approaches to tackle antiquated chemical exposure limits in the workplace, as agency officials explore possible regulatory action down the road.
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OSHA again faces delays in issuing a new rule aimed at reducing the incidence of workplace slips, trips and falls, with White House budget officials extending review of the regulatory package for an unspecified period.
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An enforcement case before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) will explore to an unusual extent the limits of OSHA using guidance documents as a legal basis for issuing penalties in circumstances like workplace violence where no specific standard applies, potentially affecting use of the OSH Act general duty clause.
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Massachusetts, shortly after enacting a law extending OSHA protections to the commonwealth's executive branch workers, has advanced a bill creating full coverage for the public sector -- a move to close what safety and health activists consider a major gap in worker protections, and which ties into a national push for covering public employees.
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Congressional Republicans are pressing Labor Secretary Thomas Perez to release documents tied to the Solicitor's Office drafting of contentious new guidelines for OSHA to decide if businesses should be treated as joint employers -- effectively helping expand OSHA's enforcement reach into franchises and similar business models -- saying the policy leads OSHA astray from its core safety and health mission.
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OSHA has decided to give employers in residential construction three more months to fully comply with the agency's confined spaces in construction standard as long as they are demonstrating “good faith” efforts to follow the new regulations, with OSHA setting specific guidelines for that determination.
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A Senate committee has delayed a vote on legislation that would create a high-profile independent commission to review longstanding federal rules and recommend ways Congress could change or kill regulations, citing worries that a cluster of GOP amendments could sink chances for a bipartisan deal.
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Corporate officers could be held criminally at fault if they fail to disclose serious product defects that put workers or consumers in danger, under legislation that a Senate Democrat has re-introduced, with the bill drawing praise from safety activists who contend the OSH Act and OSHA are too weak to effectively bring alleged willful violators to prosecution.
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Development of a global workplace safety and health management standard, which took a major step forward at a meeting of technical experts last month in Geneva, could help raise the profile of OSHA compliance as employers strive to meet international consensus standards on worker health, a U.S. participant says.
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Agricultural industry officials are weighing a legal challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency's revised farm worker protection standards (WPS), with possible arguments including that the agency failed to adequately assess the rule's costs and benefits, though an industry source says groups are also seeking agency advice for implementing the new requirements.
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A powerful coalition of agribusiness trade groups urged House lawmakers Wednesday (Oct. 7) to pressure OSHA into reversing course on a controversial interpretation of the agency's rule to prevent chemical process disasters, just as congressional Republicans took OSHA to task for a field guidance they say vastly expands the rule's reach without any formal avenue for public feedback.
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OSHA took a key step forward in its regulatory plan to require larger companies to electronically report workplace injuries and illnesses, with the data later being posted to an online database, by sending the rule for White House review -- a clear signal OSHA fully intends to issue the rule while time remains in the Obama administration.
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OSHA should continue strengthening the heavily burdened whistleblower protection program, partly by better monitoring effectiveness and setting performance metrics, the Labor Department's internal watchdog says -- conclusions backed by OSHA, even as the agency finds fault with some of the findings in a new report.
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Employer representatives are urging White House budget officials to review OSHA policy regarding enforcement deadlines for labeling chemicals under the hazard communication (hazcom) standard, as they say the rule does not give companies enough time to meet the regulations' complex data collection requirements.
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OSHA's new inspection weighting system, which assigns numerical values to different types of inspections in an effort to better allocate tight enforcement resources, partly aims to help field staff devote time to probes in areas lacking specific OSHA standards, such as ergonomics, according to an internal agency memo obtained by Inside OSHA Online.
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Agriculture workers are getting new protections from toxic chemicals to align with other industries, as the Environmental Protection Agency finalized changes to its pesticide worker protection standards (WPS), including backing advocates' calls to bar anyone under age 18 from handling pesticides -- despite objections from industry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
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