A key House Republican on worker safety and health says Congress, if members find a need following any eventual OSHA injury and illness prevention program (I2P2) rule based upon its provisions, “can try” to invoke the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to stop such a regulation, though he points out the political difficulty of doing so. Rep.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has developed a new policy on employee participation in investigations that the agency hopes will enhance the role played by plant workers in determining root causes of incidents and promoting facility safety. CSB says the new policy carries out a provision of its enabling legislation and brings the agency's probes in line with those conducted by OSHA.
An OSHA official says the agency intends to clarify its position on how combustible dust hazards may be addressed in its upcoming final rule to align the U.S. hazard communication standard with the United Nations-developed Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of classifying and labeling chemicals -- addressing an issue stakeholders on both sides of the issue raised in recent meetings with White House officials. The official says the rule, expected to be published soon, includes changes agreed upon with the Office of Management and Budget.
Both whistleblower and industry advocates say they generally agree with OSHA's efforts to centralize its Office of the Whistleblower Protection Program, but have differing expectations on how OWPP's shift to the assistant secretary's office should influence the program.
The Environmental Protection Agency is delaying until next year its pending Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment of the risks of hexavalent chromium (Cr6) in order to craft a new version that will weigh industry-funded studies on the chemical's cancer risks that industry says warrant a weaker risk number than the agency's current draft.
OSHA has unveiled a “major restructuring” of its Office of the Whistleblower Protection Program (WPP), with the office now reporting directly to the agency’s Office of the Assistant Secretary instead of to its Directorate of Enforcement Programs, and is also weighing field office changes.
The Obama administration wants increased funding and a separate line item in the OSHA budget for the agency's whistleblower program in fiscal 2013, but the whistleblower advocacy community is still concerned about how any boost in resources would actually be used.
A key safety group is formally backing OSHA's recently rolled-out policy to more strictly enforce fall protection in residential construction, saying the change promotes a consistent understanding of fall protection measures across the construction industry. But a home builders group continues to express concern about the data OSHA is using to bolster the more stringent policy, and says further agency outreach to employers, especially small businesses, is warranted before full enforcement goes into effect.
White House officials have cleared the way for OSHA to publish its long-anticipated rule to align U.S. hazard communication requirements with the United Nations-developed Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of classifying and labeling chemicals, while making changes to the proposed rule that have not been released to the public. The regulations could come out within days if OSHA sticks to earlier projections about when it hoped to publish the standard, also known as the hazcom rule.
NIOSH is considering using the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies' tiered approaches for assessing and listing chemicals' cancer risks when setting workplace safety standards, though the chemical industry is objecting to calls by organized labor and health groups for the agency to follow EPA's risk assessment approach.
The House workforce protections chairman says GOP lawmakers are discussing at the staff level which OSHA matters to bring before the subcommittee, which intends to hold at least one hearing on OSHA in 2012. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) also tells Inside OSHA Online in an exclusive interview that he is concerned about the agency pulling back on some Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) next fiscal year.
The Environmental Protection Agency released Feb. 17 its long-delayed assessment of the non-cancer risks of the ubiquitous environmental contaminant dioxin, brushing aside a host of industry concerns that the agency's oral risk estimate will drive strict new regulatory requirements and will confuse consumers because it exceeds most Americans' exposure from their diet. OSHA does not regulate dioxin under its permissible exposure limits, but stakeholders mentioned dioxin among chemicals of concern in a 2010 web forum the agency held to gather information on updating exposure limits.
Dozens of industry groups are banding together to urge White House officials to remove from OSHA's proposed hazard communication standard (HCS) provisions that would create an “unclassified hazards” category under the rule, which is designed to bring OSHA's existing standard in line with the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of labeling and classifying chemicals.
A key House Republican on workplace safety and health issues is backing Mitt Romney for the GOP presidential nod in Michigan, where the congressman represents a district in the south central area of the state, and cites what he considers the former Massachusetts governor's understanding of the private sector. The Romney campaign has not answered a question about the candidate's views on OSHA-specific issues, but organized labor is criticizing Romney as the primary campaign heats up in the state.
White House officials are again proposing to shutter two NIOSH programs -- Education and Research Centers (ERCs) and the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing (AFF) Program -- but with a slight change in their rationale since first pushing the plan last year. Worker safety and health advocates are expressing dismay that the administration continues to press the idea, which they fought for the better part of last year.
OSHA plans to publish three final standards in fiscal 2012 -- electric power, consultation agreements and confined spaces in construction -- and it continues to await White House clearance to publish a rule to align its hazard communication regulation with the Globally Harmonized System of classifying and labeling chemicals, the agency says.
The Obama administration has proposed a slight increase in OSHA funding for fiscal year 2013 with the extra resources going to areas including whistleblower protection programs, modernizing data collection and regulatory support. But the agency also hopes to save money in other areas, including by consolidating regional offices. The administration has requested $680,000 more for OSHA than fiscal year 2012 enacted levels for a funding total of nearly $565.5 million.
OSHA plans to maintain funding for Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) under the Obama administration's budget plan for the agency heading into the next fiscal year, but reduce federal compliance assistance costs overall to ensure state consultation funds are preserved, agency officials say. Among upcoming changes, OSHA says it will no longer offer the Corporate and Merit VPP program to new sites in fiscal 2013.
A key advisory group to the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) on national vaccination issues is urging the department to encourage the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue efforts to standardize the methodology used to measure health care personnel (HCP) influenza vaccination rates across settings. But the panel, in a Feb. 8 vote, stopped short of recommending that HHS impose new penalties to make sure hospitals comply.
A major union representing metal workers has joined with the only U.S. producer of pure beryllium to propose a draft standard to OSHA that would, if the agency adopts the model, cut the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for the metal by 90 percent, as well as require feasible engineering controls to protect workers where beryllium dust or fume are generated, even if exposure levels are at or below the new PEL.