As House Republicans prepare for a possible floor debate on immigration legislation, Democrats and labor unions are stepping up their efforts to bolster workplace safety for migrant workers, building on an issue that has created a rift in the GOP which has grown deeper in the face of the Trump administration's strict limits on immigration.
OSHA's enforcement review commission is holding unusual oral arguments June 7 in two closely watched cases that attorneys say could test the agency's power to cite employers under its general duty clause for heat stress and workplace violence -- two emerging issues for which OSHA has not set unique standards and is thus forced to rely on its general duty powers when citing employers.
EPA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in a critical new report is detailing challenges facing the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), including that leadership lacks authority to address board members' policy violations, and that the Trump administration's proposals to eliminate CSB are harming efforts to attract and retain employees.
EPA is further narrowing its approach for assessing the risks of the first 10 “existing” chemicals it is reviewing for possible regulation under the new Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), issuing problem formulation documents that preclude consideration of risks that programs administered by other agencies, such as OSHA, are already addressing.
After years of additional study and scientific review, EPA has again preliminarily found that formaldehyde poses leukemia and other cancer risks, according to three Democratic senators who also say the draft finding has prompted Trump EPA appointees to block release of the assessment and they are urging Administrator Scott Pruitt to quickly release it.
Lowe's hardware store chain is planning to phase out paint strippers containing methylene chloride and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) from its global product selection by the end of the year, an announcement that comes days after EPA reversed course and pledged to complete a landmark Obama-era rule regulating similar uses of the chemical.
OSHA has formally submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) its proposed rule seeking to rollback requirements for certain employers to submit employee injury and illness records typically kept on site to the agency online, as required under a 2016 Obama-era update to OSHA's recordkeeping rule.
States and industry attorneys are instructing employers who operate under OSHA-approved state plans to ignore a recent enforcement directive from federal OSHA that stated that the employers are required to submit their injury and illness data as required under the 2016 Obama-era recordkeeping update rule by July 1.
Even as the Trump administration works to roll back Obama-era measures strengthening facility safety rules, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is urging EPA and OSHA to strengthen their requirements after its investigation of industrial incidents sparked by Hurricane Harvey flood waters found that the agencies do not adequately address risks.
The Trump administration plan to scrap the Obama-era rule strengthening EPA's facility accident prevention program and wait for the OSHA to advance a similar rulemaking could stall changes to facility oversight for the foreseeable future, as OSHA has shelved plans to update its companion rule.