OSHA is urging a federal judge to reject an advocacy group's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit seeking injury and illness records submitted under the agency's May 2016 record-keeping and reporting rule update, saying that release of the information will encourage employers to withhold reports in violation of the rule.
EPA is seeking to strengthen its 2001 lead paint dust hazard standards that trigger abatement and protective measures in homes and facilities undergoing renovation and repair but the agency is declining, for now, environmentalists calls for a new definition of “lead paint” that informs federal efforts to reduce exposure to lead in paint.
Environmentalists' lawsuit challenging EPA's framework for reviewing new chemicals' risks, including to workers, appears to face legal hurdles because it challenges a policy that is not yet final but it nevertheless appears to have dissuaded the agency from following the novel process it floated last year to speed chemical reviews, industry and environmental attorneys say.
The Trump administration is proposing to merge the Departments of Education (DOE) and Labor (DOL) into a new Department of Education and Workforce in which OSHA would be placed into an “enforcement” sub agency, a plan that is drawing concern from Democrats and labor groups who fear it would undercut the agency's workplace safety mission.
The House has unanimously approved a bill that would create an advisory committee to provide recommendations to the Labor Department (DOL) on ways to limit the impact of opioids on workplace safety, though in a nod to GOP fears about new regulations, the panel's jurisdiction is limited to providing “informational resources and best practices.”
OSHA is extending the comment period on its proposed rulemaking seeking to expand and clarify requirements for employers to verify crane operators training and certification requirements in response to calls from several large industry trade groups seeking additional time to address concerns that the plan is overly burdensome.
The National Employment Law Project (NELP) in a new report is faulting OSHA for scaling back enforcement in the first years of the Trump administration, arguing that enforcement is continuing to decline at an “accelerated pace,” despite the agency's recent touting of an uptick in inspection numbers in fiscal year (FY) 2017 over the prior year.
The National Employment Law Project (NELP) in a new report is faulting OSHA for scaling back enforcement in the first years of the Trump administration, arguing that enforcement is continuing to decline at an “accelerated pace,” despite the agency's recent touting of an uptick in inspection numbers in fiscal year (FY) 2017 over the prior year.
Despite plans to advance an Obama-era proposal to regulate a paint stripping chemical under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), recently released EPA documents suggest the agency will not soon pursue other proposed TSCA rules restricting uses of two other substances blamed for risks to workers, a move that is worrying environmentalists.
Democratic appropriators are signaling that they will offer a series of amendments to pending fiscal year 2019 funding legislation for the Labor Department and other agencies that they say will bolster funding for OSHA and remove “poison pill” policy provisions.