Labor groups are conferring with Democratic lawmakers over a possible challenge to the Trump administration's approval of OSHA's rule rolling back Obama-era reporting and recordkeeping requirements during the government shutdown, which they say may have violated the Antideficiency Act (ADA).
White House officials have approved a final OSHA rule rolling back an Obama-era measure that requires employers to upload injury and illness data online rather than keep the data on a work site, clearing the way for an almost certain lawsuit that critics say has been bolstered by a prior challenge to agency efforts to delay the 2016 rule's implementation.
OSHA is expected to face significant attention in the 116th Congress, which begins Jan. 3, with newly-empowered House Democrats planning a series of oversight inquiries into the Trump administration's regulatory rollbacks and the GOP-controlled Senate facing a heated battle to confirm the agency's long-stalled nominee to lead the agency.
White House officials have completed review of an OSHA proposed rule seeking to revise an Obama-era final rule strengthening the agency's beryllium standards in accordance with a settlement with an industry group that calls for clarifying ancillary provisions of the rule's standard for general industry.
Federal advisors are urging the Trump administration to retain two Obama-era rules bolstering protections for farmworkers from pesticide exposure, measures that are intended to provide farmworkers with similar protections to workers in industries regulated by OSHA.
The Labor Department's (DOL) Office of Inspector General (IG) is reiterating calls for OSHA to ensure employers report workers' injuries and abate workplace hazards, highlighting an ongoing dispute with the Trump administration's top OSHA official, who has argued that employers are not required prove they have abated workplace hazards.
Democrats who are expected to win control of the House in 2019 following Nov. 6 elections are preparing for a host of oversight hearings to block planned Trump OSHA rollbacks of Obama-era rules that strengthened requirements on beryllium, recordkeeping and other measures, as well as the agency's “failure to staff up,” a Democratic staffer says.
OSHA and industry petitioners are requesting that a federal appellate court continue to hold in abeyance an industry lawsuit challenging an Obama-era update to the agency's beryllium standards to allow the Trump administration to complete a planned rule rolling back aspects of the standard in accordance with a settlement deal reached this spring.
Brushing aside concerns from Democrats and labor unions, the Trump administration has proposed reinstating an exemption from Labor Department (DOL) rules to allow teens to operate powered patient lifts in healthcare, arguing that guidance from OSHA and other agencies is sufficient to mitigate any risks.
OSHA's recently-updated Unified Agenda of pending rules shows the Trump administration continuing to advance rollbacks of major Obama-era rules, some at a delayed pace, spurring renewed criticism from labor advocates who argue the agency is failing to significantly advance necessary worker health and safety regulations.