The length of time it could still take for OSHA regulators to pore over the massive trove of documents related to their long-proposed rule to reduce exposures to crystalline silica dust in general industry and construction – with an analysis not wrapping up until at least next spring, they say – means it could be nearly impossible for the agency to finish the rule before President Obama leaves office, considering the Republican takeover of Congress, Washington insiders say.

The government's lead agency in regulating how thousands of clinical laboratories reliably conduct testing on human specimens is urging state health officials to ensure that labs follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines in specimen collection to stop the potential spread of Ebola – and hew to safety mandates and guidelines including those issued by OSHA as part of infection control.

A key safety equipment trade group is endorsing a set of new international specifications for choosing personal protective equipment (PPE) for stopping the spread of Ebola among health care workers and patients, saying selection of PPE should be tied to established performance standards and not “panic buys” stemming from Ebola-related crises.

Federal chemical safety officials launched an investigation Saturday into a chemical release incident that took four workers' lives at the La Porte DuPont Plant near Houston, potentially bringing new attention to the substance involved, which is frequently used to odorize natural gas.

OSHA considers the core principle that health care employees should be made “whole” compensation-wise if they are temporarily removed on a medical basis from their work settings an essential aspect of the agency's planned rule to help prevent the spread of airborne- or droplet-based infectious diseases, officials said Wednesday (Nov. 12) after small employers raised concerns about the provision.

Some OSHA stakeholders, especially in the worker advocacy community, are expressing deep concern that the Obama administration failed to take into account pressing needs for resources at the safety and health agency to tackle Ebola when President Obama recently sent to Congress a massive emergency funding request to confront the crisis.

The White House on Nov. 5 unveiled a multi-billion dollar fiscal 2015 emergency appropriations request to support Ebola efforts -- including adding to the national stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) to stop the spread of Ebola among health workers -- in a far-reaching spending plan that Congress will take up this week.

OSHA is preparing to issue a “matrix” regarding proper use and supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) to shield workers from potential exposure to the Ebola virus in the event suspected or known cases of the highly infectious disease continue to appear in the United States, a key OSHA official working on Ebola concerns said Thursday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has ordered $2.7 million in personal protective equipment to increase Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) supplies to assist U.S. hospitals caring for Ebola patients, the agency said Friday (Nov. 7).

The Republican takeover of the Senate likely foretells huge new difficulties for OSHA's regulatory and enforcement agenda, with one prediction especially dire for the agency: that the GOP will almost certainly try to obstruct, or even dash altogether, longtime efforts to issue a rule clamping down on crystalline silica exposures, Washington sources say.