Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) professionals are re-emphasizing their stance that employers' so-called incentive programs that OSHA claims could discourage workers from reporting incidents do not result in such a phenomenon at VPP sites.
A major group of occupational health and safety professionals is backing House Democratic legislation to advance safe patient handling by mandating that OSHA confront the issue, a push that comes as worker advocates ramp up demands that the Labor Department address the area, which is closely tied to controversial ergonomic policy issues.
The full Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) will review an administrative law judge's decision that mostly favors BP in a process safety management (PSM) case with potentially far-reaching implications on whether companies can use their own internal standards to comply with agency standards.
Several construction industry trade groups are banding together to seek key changes to OSHA's newly released proposed rule tackling crystalline silica exposures, and hope to discuss with OSHA its scientific rationale for the proposed exposure level as well as the construction-specific control measures.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Nov. 4 in a case involving whether workers should be compensated for the amount of time spent “changing clothes,” delving into policy issues related to compensation for personal protective equipment (PPE) that have been disputed for years.
MGM Resorts International tells Inside OSHA Online it will lodge formal objections with OSHA and ask an administrative law judge to overturn the agency's call for the company to reinstate an alleged whistleblower and to pay $325,000 for alleged Sarbanes-Oxley Act violations.
OSHA's budget is expected to remain stable at post-sequester levels in the near term as Congress continues to debate short-term spending measures.
OSHA has filed legal documents seeking review of an administrative law judge's decision throwing out a host of citations and fines against BP North America and an Ohio unit regarding allegations that the company violated the agency's process safety management standards.
Industry stakeholders affected by OSHA's proposed rule tackling crystalline silica exposures will almost certainly seek an extension of the 90-day comment period set out under the rulemaking, sources tell Inside OSHA Online.
Environmentalists are concerned that language in the bipartisan Senate bill reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) could overturn the agency's strict policy for assessing chemicals' cancer risks, which assumes that some chemicals have no safe exposure level and subjects them to conservative risk assessment methods and regulatory limits.
The Environmental Protection Agency withdrew from White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) review two long-delayed proposed rules intended to more strictly enforce the agency's existing Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) authorities but which industry groups and some lawmakers have strongly opposed.
Ellen Widess, the chief of Cal/OSHA who sources say has had a turbulent relationship with industry, has abruptly resigned, leaving surprised observers speculating as to whether there are political implications to the resignation.
The staffing industry views educating staffing firms and their clients about the shared concerns and responsibilities related to temporary worker safety and health as the central priority in OSHA successfully carrying out its newly launched temp worker initiative.
OSHA is moving forward with an enforcement initiative in the mid-Atlantic that focuses partly on safe patient handling, an effort that is being lauded by health care industry worker advocates.
Agricultural retail industry officials are detailing options for EPA to update its 1997 warning on ammonium nitrate's explosive dangers by crafting new recommendations on storage and crediting existing industry and other programs that aim to reduce plant safety risks from the fertilizer, as the agency weighs whether to revise the policy.
A new report from a Washington think tank blames the cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act as well as looming reductions in spending bills for scaled-back OSHA enforcement at a time when it says the agency is already stretched thin.
Organized labor will closely examine worker training provisions OSHA wrote into its proposed standards to reduce occupational exposure to crystalline silica, a source knowledgeable about the issue says.
OSHA has floated several “regulatory alternatives” to its proposed new standards to reduce worker exposures to crystalline silica, offering industry and other stakeholders a chance to justify other options in reaching the goals of the rulemaking.
Flight attendants and other crew members, except flight-deck crew, will get long-sought OSHA protections under a new policy issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday (Aug. 22).
Some safety and health stakeholders argue that cost-benefit data included in OSHA's newly proposed crystalline silica standard show undue pressure on the agency to conduct economic analyses of new regulations that ultimately do not factor into whether it moves forward with key rulemaking priorities.