Several key worker-safety bills in the California Legislature are advancing for imminent floor votes, while others -- including one that would have required a study on Cal/OSHA’s chronic staff-vacancy problems -- have stalled for the year.
September 17, 2026
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) is contemplating new actions to reduce worker exposure to crystalline silica in the stone-fabrication sector -- in response to alarming increases in cases of silicosis, and deaths from the disease -- including stronger enforcement of safety rules and support for legislation requiring criminal charges against negligent shop owners.
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The Labor Department (DOL) is defending an OSHA citation that ExxonMobil failed to properly record the mental health diagnosis of an employee following a December 2021 explosion and fire at the company’s Baytown, TX, complex, telling a federal appeals court the agency’s actions are clearly supported by the OSH Act.
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The Labor Department (DOL) is defending an OSHA citation that ExxonMobil failed to properly record the mental health diagnosis of an employee following a December 2021 explosion and fire at the company’s Baytown, TX, complex, telling a federal appeals court the agency’s actions are clearly supported by the OSH Act.
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Pennsylvania coal mine operators and a former Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) attorney are criticizing the agency’s plan to curtail district managers’ authority to mandate roof-collapse prevention measures, with the operators raising concerns about the plan’s impacts and the attorney saying it misstates the purpose and process of roof control plans.
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Pennsylvania coal mine operators and a former Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) attorney are criticizing the agency’s plan to curtail district managers’ authority to mandate roof-collapse prevention measures, with the operators raising concerns about the plan’s impacts and the attorney saying it misstates the purpose and process of roof control plans.
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking to dismiss litigation brought by labor unions and Democratic states that aims to halt massive staffing cuts at a federal worker-safety agency, arguing the plaintiffs lack standing and the courts lack jurisdiction to hear the claims.
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking to dismiss litigation brought by labor unions and Democratic states that aims to halt massive staffing cuts at a federal worker-safety agency, arguing the plaintiffs lack standing and the courts lack jurisdiction to hear the claims.
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EPA is asking the 5th Circuit to grant another 90-day abeyance in legal challenges over the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out many uses of the common solvent perchloroethylene (PCE or perc) while it reconsiders workplace exposure limits in the rule, although EPA says it is “prepared to proceed” if the court denies its request.
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EPA is asking the 5th Circuit to grant another 90-day abeyance in legal challenges over the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out many uses of the common solvent perchloroethylene (PCE or perc) while it reconsiders workplace exposure limits in the rule, although EPA says it is “prepared to proceed” if the court denies its request.
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