OSHA is forging ahead with the fourth phase of its Standards Improvement Project (SIP) -- a long-term effort to clarify regulations, eliminate possible duplication and correct minor errors within regulatory text -- by seeking stakeholders' advice on which construction standards to tweak and also opening the door for suggestions on large-scale revisions affecting any sector that could be pursued separately.
September 17, 2026
A prestigious panel of independent research experts has concluded that OSHA's standard for limiting airborne lead exposures falls short of adequate protection for personnel at firing ranges, in a finding that could have wider implications for the agency's lead standard. The National Research Council of the National Academies carried out a comprehensive study of the issue at the request of the Defense Department. The study comes as OSHA explores a variety of options for updating its decades' old permissible exposure limits.
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OSHA is signaling that it could take advantage of existing standards on personal protective equipment (PPE) and workplace sanitation in a new bid to ensure greater safety and health protections for women on construction sites, a key issue that an agency advisory group has pressed in recent years. A draft agency fact sheet and upcoming web page dedicated to the issue aim to make PPE and sanitation central concerns for employers.
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A key advisory group to OSHA is pressuring the Labor Department to stand against a pair of proposals by the Obama administration to slash funding for NIOSH educational and agriculture programs, echoing calls from worker safety advocates to preserve the programs despite the tight fiscal environment.
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In a rare expansion of federal OSHA authority, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has come out with a long-awaited proposed policy that calls for the two agencies to work in concert to protect crew members while aircraft are in operation. The proposal -- called for by a section of this year's FAA modernization bill -- supplants an FAA policy dating to 1975 that gave FAA sole jurisdiction over occupational safety and health conditions in aircraft. The new policy would give OSHA standards a role in safety conditions in the air.
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Construction safety advocates have come up with a draft checklist for potential use by federal agencies in the procurement process to ensure that bidders demonstrate best safety and health practices before winning federal contracts. Washington sources tell Inside OSHA Online that union and advocacy groups collaborated on the draft checklist, which would score federal contract bidders in 14 areas of occupational safety and health, as part of a broader effort to leverage federal dollars to address safety and health concerns.
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Industry officials and representatives of a risk assessment group reviewing the Environmental Protection Agency's cleanup policy related to trichloroethylene (TCE) are urging the agency to drop regulation of short-term exposure to the solvent, arguing in a recent meeting with agency officials that EPA's intent to protect against cardiac birth defects is based on flawed science. TCE has come up as a key chemical of concern for OSHA as it contemplates how to update permissible exposure limits.
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A long-running controversy over a Department of Agriculture rule that would allow poultry facilities to speed up their inspection lines has again garnered the attention of worker safety advocates who are concerned about potential ergonomics hazards related to line speeds. The rule, as it moves closer to being finalized, continues to draw fire from advocates who say the increased line speeds could lead to major increases in musculoskeletal injuries, as well as increase hazards that can result in lacerations and amputations.
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The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a long-awaited rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that will require producers of cadmium or cadmium compounds to provide health and safety information on the toxic metal to the agency -- though it is unclear what further risk management actions the data will help support. Cadmium has come up as a key concern as OSHA struggles with how to update its decades-old permissible exposure limits.
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A congressionally approved bill will close several judicially created loopholes that have made it difficult for government whistleblowers to bring successful cases as part of a broader measure that beefs up protections for federal workers complaining of retaliation by government employers, including OSHA, sources tell Inside OSHA Online. The bill's passage comes in the midst of OSHA's efforts to improve the effectiveness of its Office of Whistleblower Protection Programs in the face of critical reports from the government and whistleblower interest groups.
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A key advisory group to OSHA is stepping up pressure on the agency, now that the elections are over, to move forward on an injury and illness prevention program (I2P2) rule, which has stalled within the agency. A top OSHA official told the group on Nov. 15 that the rule will “soon” move to the small business review stage.
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Industry sources are criticizing elements of a continued OSHA campaign of warning retailers about the need for crowd management during sales events, saying a letter and fact sheet for companies from the agency could serve to bolster general duty clause cases in the absence of a specific standard addressing the issue. One attorney argues that if OSHA wants to address crowd control it should instead consider issuing a rule.
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NIOSH plans to issue a proposal for public comment as soon as early 2013 on a new policy for classifying carcinogens, a top official says, adding that the research agency hopes to finalize the policy by sometime next year. The effort by NIOSH has potential implications for OSHA standard-setting down the road as the agency collects data on potential chemical carcinogenicity when setting compulsory permissible exposure limits.
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Worker safety advocates called the U.S. government's $4.5 billion fine against BP Exploration and Production Inc. a “drop in the bucket” and “pathetic,” with one group pointing to the fine as it renewed its call for OSH Act reforms. The groups say the settlement over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico does little to act as a deterrent to potential bad actors, noting that an oil rig explosion in the gulf occurred just a day after the BP settlement was announced Thursday (Nov. 15).
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An advisory panel to OSHA on national issues is scrutinizing an internal Labor Department evaluation of OSHA’s Site-Specific Targeting (SST) program as a key agency effectiveness measure, with the results of the long-term study likely to provide the agency and public with metrics showing whether tight enforcement resources are being put to good use.
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OSHA stakeholders in both industry and organized labor are coming out against a recommendation by the Labor Office of Inspector General (OIG) that OSHA expand its data collection to use data from work sites with 11 to 19 employees for enforcement purposes. The recommendation -- with which OSHA also disagrees -- comes out of a set of broad recommendations that OIG says would improve the agency's Site-Specific Targeting (SST) program.
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A key organization of industrial hygienists says its members want OSHA to make long-awaited updates to workplace permissible exposure limits (PELs) and advance injury and illness prevention programs (I2P2) as central priorities over the next two years. An American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) survey of members also shows backing for inter-agency action by the feds to address emerging worker safety issues in the nanotechnology field, and also names hazard communication, combustible dust, silica and noise exposures as important topics.
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is asking a federal judge to dismiss the American Chemistry Council's (ACC) lawsuit seeking disclosure of documents explaining how HHS staff decided to list formaldehyde in its most recent Report on Carcinogens (RoC).
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OSHA watchers expect President Obama's win to unleash a much more aggressive OSHA regulatory and enforcement agenda than was the case under Obama's first term. With the presidential elections over, OSHA is particularly expected to push through its top regulatory priority, injury and illness prevention programs (I2P2), and continue expanding tougher enforcement programs such as the Severe Violator Enforcement Program. But OSHA likely will continue to face tough scrutiny from House Republicans, who retained their majority of the chamber.
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A copper smelting company is urging the Supreme Court to review a federal appellate ruling that upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's sulfur dioxide (SO2) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), arguing that the decision conflicts with past high court precedent on how judges should determine if EPA has set a NAAQS at an unnecessarily stringent level. Sulfur dioxide has come up in stakeholder discussions about chemicals of concern for updating OSHA's permissible exposure limits.
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