President Obama has nominated Federal Trade Commission (FTC) official Howard Shelanski to be the next administrator of the White House Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), prompting a tepid reaction from open government groups who have criticized OIRA for weakening or blocking key regulations.
Uncertainty about how long of an exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE) must occur before it causes cardiac birth defects will likely prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from aiding regulators in protecting against the risks, complicating the agency's effort to craft guidance on protecting against risks from short-term exposures to the substance, industry and environmental sources say.
OSHA has come out with a controversial interpretation letter saying the law allows for union and worker representatives to participate in OSHA compliance officer walkaround inspections at work sites even without a collective bargaining agreement.
The Senate subcommittee that was to hear Thursday (April 25) from OSHA chief David Michaels and several whistleblower experts has abruptly postponed the hearing, and sources blame politics over the nomination of Thomas Perez as Labor secretary for the delay.
OSHA on Tuesday (April 23) issued a final rule applying the requirements of its August 2010 cranes and derricks construction standard to demolition work and underground construction.
Worker safety and health advocates see the fertilizer plant disaster in West, TX, as a potential turning point in the long-running debate over OSHA reform, saying the catastrophe could reinvigorate efforts on Capitol Hill to advance at least some elements of the Protecting America's Workers Act (PAWA).
NIOSH supporters are urging lawmakers to ask for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study into whether the agency should be moved out from under the auspices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A new study by Congress' investigative arm finds that state OSH plans need more help from federal OSHA in addressing an array of challenges -- primarily in the staffing and training areas -- stemming from persistent budget woes at the state level that are affecting their OSH activities.
The fertilizer facility in West, TX, where a disastrous fire and explosion killed at least a dozen and injured hundreds on Wednesday (April 17), did not meet the criteria for inclusion in OSHA's National Emphasis Program (NEP) that targets chemical facilities for inspection, an agency source tells Inside OSHA Online.
The massive, deadly explosion Wednesday (April 17) at a West, TX, fertilizer plant is leading worker safety advocates to raise extensive concerns about OSHA's ability in a resource-tight environment to adequately inspect chemical facilities for process safety management issues.
Organized labor and other worker safety advocates continue to rail against a proposed rule by an Agriculture Department agency that would effectively speed poultry food safety inspection lines, saying the plan would have far-ranging implications on worker safety issues including ergonomics, lacerations and amputations.
President Obama's nomination of Thomas Perez to head the Department of Labor will likely trigger debate over OSHA's enforcement strategy as the confirmation process gets under way on Capitol Hill this week.
OSHA stakeholders see the Obama administration's proposed budget for the agency in fiscal year 2014 as making a significant difference for the functional capacity of the Directorate of Whistleblower Protection Programs (also known as OWPP), as the president proposes adding millions of dollars and several dozen investigators to the program.
Labor advocates will push EPA to review the agency's existing significant new use rules (SNURs) for certain nanomaterials to ensure they sufficiently protect workers, in the wake of a new study by federal agency scientists suggesting some carbon nanoparticles increase the risk of cancer when used in conjunction with known carcinogens.
OSHA is looking into the concept of combining its already-completed national refinery inspection program with its ongoing chemical facility inspection program, sources familiar with the issue tell Inside OSHA Online.
Worker safety and health advocates are decrying proposals in President Obama's budget plan for NIOSH released Wednesday (April 10) that would ax two of the research agency's programs and cut its total discretionary budget by more than $53 million.
President Obama proposed a fiscal 2014 budget on Wednesday (April 10) for OSHA that includes a sharp increase in funding for whistleblower enforcement efforts, while slightly pulling back on compliance assistance activities, and overall bumping up the agency budget by about $6 million, to just under $571 million.
A bill pending in Congress that would require OSHA to issue an interim standard tackling combustible dust hazards while the agency continues the lengthy process of trying to promulgate a permanent standard has picked up support from a key worker safety organization.
A key organization of workplace safety experts has joined the push in Maryland for legislation that would require the state to pre-qualify construction bidders for public sector projects based on their safety records.
House Democrats are renewing their press for a package of mine safety measures that in a previous Congress emerged as a vehicle for broader OSHA reforms.