The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) recently confirmed that a judicial stay of Biden-era silica standards remains in effect while the agency engages in “limited rulemaking” to reconsider the 2024 rule, although legal experts note uncertainty over MSHA’s future actions remains.
California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board is requesting district attorneys (DAs) in seven counties expand enforcement and bring criminal charges against engineered stone fabrication shop owners who are violating crystalline silica worker-protection standards, as the state continues to see a rise in cases of the deadly lung disease silicosis.
The Labor Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) in its annual report of the department’s top management challenges is highlighting the need for OSHA to address workplace violence, ensure employers report injuries and illnesses, and inspect as many worksites as possible with a limited number of inspectors.
House Judiciary Committee Republicans are championing legislation that would prohibit lawsuits against manufacturers and sellers of artificial stone slabs for injuries caused by exposure to respirable silica during third-party fabrication, arguing hundreds of lawsuits in California courts are threatening to put American companies out of business.
The International Surface Fabricators Association (ISFA) is proposing to develop a nationwide program to certify and license shops that cut fabricated stone containing crystalline silica to ensure the practice is performed safely and prevents the lung disease silicosis, countering advocacy groups in California that are seeking a total ban on the products.
A petition to California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board seeking a ban on artificial stone slabs containing more than 1 percent crystalline silica to prevent more cases of the deadly lung disease silicosis is sparking new debate over whether a ban is appropriate or if state officials should substantially ramp up enforcement of worker-safety standards.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced plans to revise the Biden-era silica rule, drawing cautious optimism from industry groups that are challenging the rule in court that the changes could resolve their issues, although the groups say MSHA has not yet provided any details to be certain.
The chairman and several other Republican members of the House Education and Workforce Committee are urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to relax the Biden-era silica dust rule in order “to prevent serious economic hardship.”
Industry groups and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) have begun discussions about a possible settlement of consolidated litigation challenging the Biden-era silica dust rule following the Trump administration’s pause on enforcing the rule and a federal appeals court’s stay of the rule’s compliance deadlines.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and industry groups are urging the 8th Circuit to again reject unions’ attempt to intervene in consolidated litigation over the agency’s silica dust rule, arguing the unions have provided no new evidence that the court should reverse its prior denial.