Rulemaking

The Asbestos Disease Organization (ADAO) is asking EPA to expand the window to comment on newly published worker-safety data related to its proposed ban on current uses of chrysotile asbestos, even as it warns the agency against letting its review of those comments delay a final asbestos rule from its non-binding October target.

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission’s (OSHRC) two recent rulings that rejected OSHA heat-stress citations applying the general duty clause could motivate the agency to more quickly enact its long-promised safety standard specifically governing heat hazards, an employer attorney says.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has begun reviewing the final version of the Biden administration’s rule imposing a one-time mandate on companies to report their recent uses of asbestos, a measure that health advocates have sought to expand as they hope it will inform future assessment and regulation of the mineral’s uses but which industry is seeking to narrow.

Employer and trade groups are urging California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) to extend the comment period on its proposed overhaul of rules for lead exposure in the construction sector and general industry, charging that the new blood lead-level limits and action levels are much too stringent, and that many of the rules are too complicated for regulated entities to understand.

OSHA has finalized a year-old interim rule that set out procedures for handling whistleblower complaints under the 2019 Taxpayer First Act (TFA) that created anti-retaliation protections for employees who report potential tax fraud and other violations, largely adopting the model it set out in the interim measure.

California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board is scheduled to hear debate over whether to amend its workforce safety rules for farming equipment to allow automated tractors and other machines to operate independently in the field, amid pushback from labor and worker-safety groups that say the move would heighten injury and death risks.

The long-delayed challenge to OSHA’s Trump-era rollback of electronic recordkeeping mandates is set to move forward after a federal appeals court lifted its long-standing stay on the suit, backing safety advocates’ argument that the Biden administration’s repeated delays of a rule to reinstate the requirements undermine the rationale for pausing the case.

Employer attorneys are raising alarms on OSHA’s quiet announcement that it plans to reinstate a controversial Obama-era policy known as the “Fairfax Memo” that allowed third parties such as union representatives to accompany OSHA officials on inspections -- even of non-union worksites.

Unions, worker-safety groups, environmentalists and tribes are petitioning OSHA to strengthen its injury and illness reporting mandates for oil spill response workers, arguing that the sector should be carved out from broad exclusions for cold and flu to ensure that employers report symptoms of potentially serious chemical exposures that may “mimic” the viruses.

California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) has missed its target to unveil the final version of a long-pending update to requirements for first-aid kits for general industry and construction companies, triggering a new comment process and drawing criticism from at least one member of the agency’s standards board, along with employer and worker-safety representatives.