Mining industry safety-training experts are backing the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) plan to remove discretionary authority that allows agency district managers to require additional safety measures beyond those specified in regulation, but are urging MSHA to bolster the administrative record for the proposed rule.
The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to retain safety standards for the use of trolleys in mines, arguing the technology used to transport mined ore and coal as well as personnel is still used in at least one mine.
OSHA is extending by 60 days the comment period on 20 proposed rules that are part of a Trump administration regulatory reform package, granting a request from labor unions and other stakeholders for more time to evaluate proposed changes to rules relating to respirator standards and other safety requirements.
Labor and worker rights advocates are urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MHSA) to “withdraw” its proposal seeking to remove duplicative requirements for inspection and maintenance of aerial tramways, arguing it would eliminate inspections mandates and compromise miners’ safety.
The National Employment Law Project (NELP) and Biden-era OSHA Administrator Doug Parker are urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to drop its proposal to remove what the agency says are duplicate requirements for maintaining and inspecting drilling equipment in mines, arguing the proposal violates the law.
The National Mining Association (NMA) is urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to expand its regulatory reform package of 19 proposed rule changes to include two additional measures, arguing the agency also needs to change accident reporting and approval of electric motor-driven mine equipment.
Labor unions are urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to provide additional options under its proposed hazard communication rule to allow miners rather than mine operators the choice of how to receive such materials, arguing a shift to electronic-only access will pose a barrier to some miners.
Environmentalists and industry groups are raising concerns about how EPA estimated risk to workers from phthalates in technical documents that will support a novel cumulative risk assessment of the chemicals, alleging that methodological deficiencies resulted in assessments that either understated or overstated risk.
Public health officials, labor unions and the construction industry are among numerous stakeholder groups asking OSHA for additional time to comment on a package of deregulatory proposals, with some targeting only a couple of the proposed rules and others seeking more time to review nearly all of the 24 regulations.
EPA has opened a new public comment period on a Biden-era TSCA risk management rule for the common solvent perchloroethylene (PCE or perc), seeking especially for information on whether workplace controls could reduce exposure to the chemical rather than outright prohibition of its use.