OSHA should remove its whistleblower protection program (WPP) from under the auspices of the Directorate of Enforcement Programs (DEP) and house it in a special directorate or office that reports directly to the OSHA chief, several assistant regional administrators propose in an internal report on ways to improve the program. The report also recommends enhancing the field organizations' oversight of whistleblower cases; creating a budget line item for the whistleblower program; and putting in place a whistleblower training directive, among many suggestions.
Industry officials are concerned about an OSHA proposal to broadly interpret the word “feasible” as it relates to administrative or engineering controls in its noise exposure standards, saying the plan opens the door to broad use of the term in other health and safety enforcement areas. OSHA's move, backed by unions, signals the agency will increasingly require engineering controls instead of reliance on personal protective equipment (PPE) to control worker exposures, sources say.
An internal Labor Department document spells out the reasoning for a controversial proposal to move parts of the whistleblower protection program (WPP) out of OSHA and into the department's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), but also presents two fall-back options -- elevating the program to its own agency under Labor or creating a whistleblower directorate with dedicated resources within OSHA. Union sources agree with DOL that the segment covering workplace safety may be best suited for OSHA enforcement but say the program still needs an overhaul.
OSHA's national employee union is complaining that agency management kept it in the dark about internal proposals to break apart the agency's whistleblower protection program (WPP) and move some of its functions to the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), but the union has not taken a position on such a potential move, saying it has not had an opportunity to consult with the bargaining unit employees. The issue is among many expected to crop up Friday at a meeting of a newly revitalized agency Labor-Management Relations Committee.
OSHA's newly rechartered Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) will tackle mast climbing scaffold safety issues as a key concern at a meeting in December, sources say. The agency recently revived the panel, whose charter had lapsed following its meeting back in April.
Revelations that the Labor Department has held internal discussions about ways to potentially break up OSHA's whistleblower protection program (WPP) and house part of it in the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) have whistleblower advocates and OSHA's internal union upset.
A key public health organization is urging OSHA to place chemicals in classes or families, as opposed to individual substances, as it updates permissible exposure rates. A source close to the issue indicated that OSHA has weighed such an option and that classes could include metalworking fluids such as lubricants, alcohol-based solvents and mineral fibers, as a few examples.
A key public interest group has tapped into NIOSH data to come up with 12 chemicals it says OSHA should prioritize for permissible exposure limit updates, and also urges OSHA in the near term to expand its use of the general duty clause to ensure companies follow the medical literature even in the absence of an updated standard. Public Citizen also echoes calls by other stakeholders for OSHA to consider tackling its outdated PELs through new industrial hygiene standards.
California OSHA is sharply rebutting federal OSHA's critique of the state's occupational safety and health program, challenging OSHA's suggestion that California programs not mirroring federal mandates are not “at least as effective” as federal OSHA standards--the requirement for federal approval of a state plan. Federal OSHA recently asked Cal/OSHA and 24 other state-run programs to correct within 30 days what OSHA pegged as deficiencies in their occupational safety and health programs.
Union officials are questioning why the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has asked an advisory committee to study possible recommendations on how to require flu vaccinations for health care workers, in what organized labor views as a potential next round in the contentious issue over employee mandates.
A key industry stakeholder, ORC-Mercer Networks, told OSHA that the organization does not agree with suggestions that the agency abandon efforts to update individual permissible exposure limits (PELs) in favor of generic approaches, such as proposed rulemaking on injury and illness prevention programs or reliance on some kind of “control banding,” though such efforts could also prove useful.
White House officials extended their review of OSHA's proposal to add back the musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) column to the OSHA Form 300 Log for recordkeeping, as business interests continued to express strong opposition to the proposal and hinted at potential legal action to stop OSHA's move. White House Office of Management and Budget officials met separately in recent months with industry groups opposed to the proposal and unions who support it, according to an OMB meeting log.
After suspending in late July a highly visible national emphasis program targeting recordkeeping, OSHA has quietly reinstated the program with an updated compliance directive that revises the targeting criteria and focuses the inspection effort on the manufacturing sector, along with the addition of some nursing homes. The revised directive was posted on the agency's website late last week, but was not otherwise announced by the agency.
OSHA is requesting that Hawaii's state OSHA program let federal OSHA assert concurrent jurisdiction or face possible withdrawal of the state's health and safety plan -- an action rarely taken by federal OSHA with respect to state plans. The move came as OSHA released audits last week finding major shortcomings across state plans, and in the case of Hawaii, gaps that OSHA determined were significant enough for federal officials to step in.
OSHA is pushing back against claims contained in a Labor Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit report contending that the agency's policy of reducing penalties has been ineffective at improving safety and health at workplaces where the agency has issued citations. OSHA told the OIG that its recently updated penalty policy will adequately limit penalty reductions, and resisted the OIG's call to go a step further and prohibit reductions when an employer is found to have violated a similar standard more than once.
A public interest group has sued the Labor Department over OSHA's denial of two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for materials regarding the agency's whistleblower program as the Labor Office of Inspector General (OIG) on Friday issued a scathing report of OSHA's handling of the program.
The Senate appropriations committee has set aside funds for NIOSH to conduct a study of line speed safety for poultry workers, a move which follows a Department of Agriculture study regarding safety of inspectors. Union officials are indicating that the information, including repetitive stress data, is necessary to determine whether OSHA action is needed.
OSHA has given state plans 30 days to fix a slew of problems uncovered in a nearly year-long agency review of state occupational safety and health programs, signaling that at least one state, Hawaii, risks federal OSHA asserting control of its program, the agency indicated Tuesday. The problems uncovered by OSHA include “concerns about identification of hazards, proper classification of violations, proposed penalty levels and failure to follow up on violations to ensure that workplace safety and health problems are corrected,” OSHA chief David Michaels said.
State programs are pushing back against previously announced plans by federal OSHA to require states to adopt federal OSHA policies on penalty structures and emphasis programs, recently sending letters to OSHA chief David Michaels outlining concerns with the planned action.
As OSHA continues to face calls to draft a standard to stop power plants from using flammable gases to conduct “gas blows,” a pair of developments – an executive order by Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R) banning the practice and a statement from a member of the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) on the issue – stepped up pressure on worker safety officials to address the issue. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), a proponent of regulatory moves on the issue, praised Rell's order but decried the lack of federal OSHA guidelines and procedures for handling natural gas.