Unions are urging a federal appeals court to reconsider its denial of their motion to intervene in litigation over the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) silica dust rule, arguing the court acted prematurely and failed to consider key arguments supporting their participation.
A federal appeals court has denied requests from labor unions and public health advocates to formally intervene in litigation challenging the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) final silica dust rule after MSHA and industry groups argued the intervention motions were untimely and legally flawed.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and industry groups are urging a federal appeals court to reject efforts by labor unions and respiratory health advocates to formally intervene in litigation over the Biden-era silica dust rule, arguing the motions are untimely, unsupported by the law, and threaten to disrupt an already-advanced case.
California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board has adopted final, permanent standards to protect fabricated stone workers from exposure to crystalline silica despite continuing pushback from industry leaders, who claim that dozens of onerous new requirements and likely uneven enforcement will penalize businesses that are adequately protecting employees.
The California Legislature is weighing a bill that would impose new restrictions and certification requirements for stone fabrication shops to protect workers from being exposed to crystalline silica, in the latest step of a years-long push to stem a rise in the deadly disease silicosis in the Golden State and elsewhere.
The fabricated stone manufacturing industry is making final pleas for California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) to scale back its proposed final permanent rules to protect workers from exposure to crystalline silica, warning that dozens of onerous new requirements and poor enforcement will penalize businesses that are adequately protecting employees.
OSHA chief Douglas Parker says the agency is seeking to adopt “a more strategic approach” to enforcement and compliance assistance for its safety standards on fall prevention and silica dust, including outreach to smaller residential construction projects, while touting a 20 percent year-to-year drop in falling deaths.
Industry groups representing fabricated stone manufacturing companies are pressing California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) officials to ease certain sections of their proposed permanent rules to protect workers from exposure to crystalline silica, including by relaxing requirements for respirators and providing more incentives for in-shop improvements.
Six national and regional trade associations are suing the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) over its landmark rule tightening exposure standards for silica dust, with one of the petitioners vowing to target what its top official says was the final measure’s inclusion of several elements never mentioned in a 2023 proposal.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) has renewed its emergency temporary standard (ETS) for crystalline silica exposure in “engineered stone fabrication shops,” and state lawmakers are advancing a bill that would establish even more stringent worker-protection rules for the sector, underscoring the escalating concern over dangers facing its workers.