OSHA's new hazard communication rule (hazcom) does not preempt state tort laws under which lawsuits over alleged hazardous chemical exposures are filed, conforming to the broad policy on federal preemption outlined early on by the Obama administration, the agency says. The agency resisted calls from some industry stakeholders to add language stating that OSHA is preempting state personal injury suits alleging that labels provided inadequate warnings.
September 17, 2026
The Environmental Protection Agency's proposed safety requirements for a series of carbon nanotubes are raising the ire of NIOSH officials who say EPA's rule falls short of protecting workers and are urging the agency to adopt more protective measures to prevent exposure until further risk assessment is completed.
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Business interests and a House lawmaker are crying foul over a new OSHA enforcement memorandum targeting what the agency calls “employer safety incentive and disincentive policies and practices” that the agency contends in some cases could result in whistleblower statute or recordkeeping violations under the OSH Act and railroad safety laws. OSHA says the policy directly takes on procedures at companies that could violate employees' statutory rights.
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Labor Secretary Hilda Solis told members of Congress that OSHA has no intention of using an eventual injury and illness prevention program (I2P2) rule to “double-cite” employers when OSHA inspectors identify hazards. Business interests have expressed concern that the agency, with an I2P2 regulation in place, would cite both a workplace hazard and a violation of the program rule for the same issue found at a work site.
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OSHA shifted directions and decided to include disclosure of the voluntary threshold limit values (TLVs) developed by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists in its newly unveiled final rule aligning its hazard communication standard (hazcom) with the Globally Harmonized System of classifying and labeling chemicals (GHS), along with the compulsory OSHA permissible exposure limits (PELs).
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OSHA, in a soon-to-be-published hazard communication rule, shifts its stance on how to refer to a category previously called “unclassified hazard” that had sparked protests from industry due to its apparent inclusion of combustible dust -- though the agency still says that combustible dust is covered by the rule, but as a “hazardous chemical.” The new hazcom rule, which the agency rolled out Tuesday, still requires disclosure of combustible dust under the “right to know” principle and OSHA's longtime stance that the hazard falls under hazcom requirements remains unchanged, agency officials
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A group of orthopedic surgeons, patients and researchers pressed members of Congress and staff in recent days for a more intensive government effort to study musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), continuing a push for funding to study the issue, which is a key concern among OSHA stakeholders. MSD research advocates want continued resources set aside for National Institutes of Health (NIH) research projects on such disorders – though sources say an earlier legislative drive to mandate a NIOSH study has not picked up momentum in the current Congress.
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The Republican chair of the House panel that oversees OSHA says he will urge appropriators to scale back the administration's proposal to increase funds for the agency's whistleblower program and also wants to see Congress decrease OSHA's emphasis on inspections over compliance assistance. Organized labor sources contend that GOP efforts to scale back whistleblower program funding reflect a clear slant against protecting workers' rights.
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Newly released studies by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) showing high cancer risks from heavy exposure to diesel exhaust could provide the Environmental Protection Agency with the data it has long been seeking to quantify the substance's cancer risks and update a 2002 risk assessment that classified the substance as a "likely" carcinogen, sources say. The studies are included in an epidemiological study of miners exposed to diesel exhaust, in which NIOSH also participated.
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A major worker safety group is formally urging OSHA to lower the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for occupational noise, which would bring the policy in line with the NIOSH recommendation and the levels recognized by many employers in the U.S. and by other countries, following conversations with the agency on the idea, a source says.
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A leading House Republican on occupational safety and health says any chance for OSHA reform under GOP dominance of the body likely depends upon “starting from scratch” rather than attempting to take up pieces of the sweeping Democratic legislation that gained little traction in the previous Congress. But Rep. John Kline (MN), chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, also says there are less controversial victims' rights provisions contained in that bill that could pick up GOP backing.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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