OSHA has issued its final rule delaying until Dec. 12 some provisions of its Obama-era beryllium standard in order to complete a separate rule that will roll back aspects of the underlying regulation as agreed to in a settlement with industry groups, but the move is facing criticism from some worker advocates though others are grudgingly accepting it.
Voters in Missouri have overwhelmingly rejected a Republican backed “right to work” law during an Aug. 7 special election, sending signals to lawmakers facing reelection in November that organized labor -- concerned that such measures undercut workplace safety and other rules -- may still be playing a strong hand in the midterms.
Business groups are urging the Supreme Court to review and reverse a California high court ruling that backed the state's use of supplemental enforcement powers to address workplace safety violations, fearing it will allow nearly two dozen other states operating under OSHA-approved plans to use their unapproved state laws to address alleged violations.
Business groups are urging the Supreme Court to review and reverse a California high court ruling that backed the state's use of supplemental enforcement powers to address workplace safety violations, fearing it will allow nearly two dozen other states operating under OSHA-approved plans to use their unapproved state laws to address alleged violations.
Business groups and industry attorneys are threatening aggressive advocacy, including reviving stayed suits challenging OSHA's injury and illness recordkeeping program, to address concerns that the Trump administration's planned rollback of an Obama-era rule does not go far enough to remove aspects of the rule employers oppose.
Business groups and industry attorneys are threatening aggressive advocacy, including reviving stayed suits challenging OSHA's injury and illness recordkeeping program, to address concerns that the Trump administration's planned rollback of an Obama-era rule does not go far enough to remove aspects of the rule employers oppose.
EPA is defending its framework for reviewing new chemicals, including risks to workers, under the revised toxics law against an environmentalist lawsuit by arguing that the policy is consistent with the 2016 law, but also says the framework is a draft that it might never finalize and therefore critics lack legal standing for their challenge.
Labor and public interest groups are faulting OSHA's recent pledge to support three committees that advise the agency's rulemaking and enforcement efforts as “disingenuous,” arguing that the agency has failed to fill the panels, including a construction advisory committee that has not met in more than a year and currently has no members.
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is hedging on Senate Democrats' calls to strictly review and ban certain uses of the solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) that are blamed for harms to consumers and workers, saying only that the substance is one of 10 the agency has prioritized for review under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
OSHA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are weighing an update to a 1994 agreement encouraging USDA food safety inspectors to report chemical hazards to OSHA, after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) last year noted gaps protecting workers, and advocates are pressing for new research on chemical hazards.