OSHA in a tentative regulatory step toward fighting infectious disease transmission in health care settings floats the idea of written, highly specific control plans, which sources say is outside the traditional OSHA approach and akin to injury and illness prevention programs.
September 17, 2026
OSHA has drafted the framework for an envisioned rule to help stop the spread of infectious diseases in health care work settings, putting a conceptual blueprint of the rule before small business advocates in a required next step of trying to advance the rule, which would in OSHA's eyes include a written infection control plan and qualified personnel within hospitals to oversee disease control efforts on behalf of workers.
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OSHA provided direction on Thursday (Oct. 23) for field officers to carry out the agency's cranes and derricks final rule issued in 2010, saying the guidelines explain to compliance officers how to perform inspections in instances where the rule covers power-operated equipment.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is weighing competing comments on improving its facility security program, with industry groups citing an "inherent conflict" with Environmental Protection Agency information-sharing requirements and urging changes to DHS' inspection protocols, while labor and community groups are calling for greater coordination with other federal programs, including OSHA inspections.
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The Environmental Protection Agency is adding 23 new chemicals to the list of substances it plans to assess using existing Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) authority, highlighting the agency's ongoing plan to exert its powers under the decades-old law given fading prospects for Congress to agree on a bill to overhaul TSCA and update EPA's chemical review authority.
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OSHA chief David Michaels is asking workplace health experts to advise the agency on several conceptual options to address what the agency believes are outdated permissible exposure limits (PELs): eliminating Z-tables in favor of control banding; using the OSH Act general duty clause in cases where employers may know exposure levels are too high; requiring levels consistent with manufacturers' advice; and requiring employers to evaluate exposure scenarios under the European chemical hazard regulatory regime.
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OSHA's court victory Friday in a closely watched challenge of the agency's stance that combustible grain dust can be categorized and regulated for labeling purposes as a “hazardous chemical” under the worker right-to-know standard adds legal weight to OSHA's push to regulate the hazard, with Washington sources saying the decision is likely to have far-reaching impact across industries, not just grain production.
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OSHA has produced new guidelines in response to Ebola saying workers cleaning or decontaminating for Ebola must use at a “minimum” NIOSH-approved, fit-tested N95 respirators in situations where there could be exposure to the deadly virus through a bio-aerosol, such as could occur from spraying liquids or air during cleaning.
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OSHA is “determined” to finalize new regulations before the end of the Obama administration that lower exposure limits and put practices in place to control crystalline silica dust, agency chief David Michaels said Monday.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued sweeping new guidelines for health care workers to prevent the spread of Ebola that recommend standard use of N95 or air-purifying respirators near Ebola, as opposed to earlier guidance suggesting such high-end respirators are only needed during aerosol-generating procedures.
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Industrial health experts are urgently calling on OSHA, and also taking their case directly to the White House, to move forward as rapidly as possible on a rulemaking to tackle infectious diseases in health care settings -- pressure that follows close on the heels of at least two U.S. health workers testing positive for the Ebola virus.
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The National Nurses Union said the president's decision to tap a White House Ebola czar falls short unless the administration gives the czar power to cut off Medicare and Medicaid funds at hospitals that don't meet the highest uniform, national workplace safety standards.
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The Environmental Protection Agency is receiving conflicting comments on its proposed revisions to its worker protection standards (WPS) for agricultural pesticides, with House Democrats and some state health officials urging stronger protections while the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and state agriculture departments are calling on EPA to overhaul the rule.
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Federal chemical safety officials cite the high closure rate of their recommendations to improve industrial site safety as demonstrating the value of the investigative activities, as the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) comes under increased scrutiny on Capitol Hill over rampant allegations of dysfunction and whistleblower reprisal.
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OSHA officials are asking stakeholders to consider whether major changes should be made to the agency's rulemaking procedures in order to possibly expedite changes to workplace chemical exposure limits – a concept detailed in a recently issued request for information (RFI) on how the agency should approach updates to permissible exposure limits (PELs).
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Worldwide concern over outbreaks of Ebola disease has hit home in the U.S. health care sector as a nurse in Dallas who cared for a now-deceased patient with the virus has contracted the disease, despite use of full personal protective equipment (PPE), putting new pressure on employers to institute comprehensive infection control programs that include site-specific training of employees.
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A Democratic lawmaker is calling on federal toxicology experts to study the possibility of human health risks from exposure to artificial field turf containing particles from recycled rubber tires, saying the tires often contain numerous chemicals considered carcinogens, including benzene, arsenic and phthalates, among others.
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OSHA is floating a wide range of new options for tackling what many health experts consider long-outdated permissible exposure limits (PELs) for workplace hazardous chemicals, saying the legal hurdles involved in regulatory updates to existing levels call for potential changes in approach that include using other data sources and approaches such as control banding and task-based controls to tamp down on worker risk.
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The White House budget office has given OSHA the go-ahead to publish a formal request for stakeholder input on ways to update hazardous chemical workplace permissible exposure limits (PELs), most of which have not been changed in decades despite emergence of more modern scientific data.
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Nurses and their supporters across the United States are voicing a variety of concerns about the U.S. health care sector's readiness to provide them with adequate health protections as cases of Ebola infection begin sprouting up outside the disease-ravaged region of West Africa, including a patient in Dallas and most recently a nurse in Spain -- with ensuring adequate protective gear a key priority of advocates.
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