Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told lawmakers at a May 1 House hearing that OSHA expects to release a “notice” advancing its long-awaited heat danger standard “later this year,” and will propose a workplace violence standard for healthcare facilities “soon” -- which would be a landmark step for a rule that has been in development since the Obama era.
California lawmakers are advancing a bill that would require schools to exclude teachers and other employees with COVID-19 from the workplace with pay for a set period of time, amid opposition from state health officials who argue that such mandates should be based on their frequently updated pandemic guidance rather than rigid statutory mandates.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) plans to exempt local and state correctional facilities from its sweeping new indoor heat worker-safety rules and resubmit the regulatory package to state administrators for approval, after state finance officials warned the agency they plan to reject the prior version over its economic impacts.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) officials say they are still “committed” to strong implementation of existing indoor heat protections and ongoing efforts to bolster them, despite the likely forthcoming rejection by state administrators of a sweeping set of more stringent rules adopted by the agency’s standards board last month at a chaotic meeting.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is launching development of “a hazard review document” for outdoor workers’ exposures to wildfire smoke, building on a multi-agency effort to limit the fires and their effects that the White House launched late last year.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) is facing both a stakeholder petition and pending legislation seeking what would be a pioneering rule mandating that workplace first-aid kits include the nasal spray naloxone hydrochloride -- a medication to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses -- but the calls are facing early employer objections over costs and feasibility.
OSHA’s proposed safety standard for emergency responders includes a call for information on claims that firefighters face health risks from toxic, long-lasting chemicals known as PFAS that are used as water- and oil-proofing agents in their protective gear -- the latest step in a long-running debate on that question.
Democratic state attorneys general (AGs) are again petitioning OSHA for an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers in extreme heat exacerbated by climate change, arguing that the spike in heat-related injuries and illnesses during the summer of 2023 shows the need for immediate action ahead of the agency’s long-pending permanent rule.
A coalition of labor and environmental groups is urging OSHA to formally propose its long-delayed heat-danger standard before the start of summer, and to prioritize what they say are key elements for the eventual rule such as requiring employers to craft mandatory written safety programs and allow flexibility only within “careful” limits.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) officials are revising a key proposal to exempt short-term “incidental” exposures from first-time heat safety rules governing indoor worksites, in response to complaints by employer groups that a previous carve-out was much too limited and ahead of a key standards board vote expected in March.