OSHA has issued a non-binding “hazard bulletin” for grease traps that details how companies should protect workers against trap-related accidents, falling short of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) call for the agency to issue strict new rules for the traps after a child fell through a fast food venue’s grease trap cover and drowned.
A federal district judge says in a new order that the Department of Agriculture (USDA) appears to have “engaged in arbitrary decision-making” by not addressing worker safety concerns in its rule revising swine slaughterhouse line speeds, allowing worker advocates to proceed with their challenge to the policy.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has finalized a rule narrowing its definition of when contractors and franchisees are “joint employers” subject to labor safety and other laws, over the objections of worker safety advocates who fear the plan could increase risks to many employees by hindering OSHA's ability to enforce safety requirements.
The California Chamber of Commerce is warning employers that state regulators are poised to adopt likely expensive and burdensome new worker safety regulations in the coming year, including tighter lead-exposure standards, more stringent wildfire smoke protections, and first-time indoor heat protection measures.
A federal district court judge at a recent hearing questioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) over its justification for not including worker safety provisions in its revised swine slaughter facility inspection rule, according to a Public Citizen attorney who is suing over the rule for failing to protect against increased risks to facility workers.
The California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board has approved new rules requiring employers to give workers injury and illness prevention program documents within five days upon request, over industry objections that compliance could be difficult and calls from farmworkers and labor unions to expand and strengthen the rules.
Litigation filed by food workers unions over the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) revised swine slaughter facility inspection rule is testing whether the department has a duty to protect workers, with the challengers saying the rule is unlawful because it does not offer such protections while USDA says it is not subject to such a mandate.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board’s (CSB) proposed accidental chemical release rule is drawing competing criticisms, with environmentalists and other advocacy groups saying it weakens reporting mandates to the point of being “useless” while industry entities claim it risks subjecting companies to “inappropriate enforcement.”
Citing recent OSHA advice, a management-side attorney is urging employers to assess whether their workers face potential hazards from the widespread use of headphones to listen to music even though there is no OSHA standard prohibiting it.
OSHA is updating its guidance on implementing a National Emphasis Program (NEP) priority focus on identifying and reducing amputation hazards in manufacturing industries, revising several instructions on inspection requirements, data reporting, and various other changes in a bid to better guard against such accidents occurring.