Congress

House Democrats on the Education and Workforce Committee are urging the Labor Department (DOL) to enforce a self-insurance rule that requires coal operators to contribute to the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund (BLDTF), raising concerns that lack of enforcement increases the risk to taxpayers and the integrity of the fund.

The Labor Department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ) reopened on Nov. 13 after the 43-day government shutdown ended, allowing pending cases to resume and requiring some proceedings to be rescheduled following the weeks-long closure.

North Carolina’s Republican labor commissioner is urging Senate Democrats to end the ongoing federal government shutdown, warning that unless OSHA grants to states are restored, North Carolina will be forced to furlough safety inspectors, putting the state’s workers at risk.

Chemical industry groups are continuing their long-running effort to have Congress renew a lapsed chemical safety program, citing in part concerns over worker safety and security gaps that undermine the industry’s operational integrity and ability to remain secure from the threat of terror attacks.

The National Construction Policy Institute (NCPI) is outlining legislative and regulatory changes it says are necessary to create a “fair, predictable, and legally defensible” framework for OSHA’s controversial multi-employer citation policy, arguing the agency’s current approach is “unsustainable.”

The Senate has confirmed President Trump’s nomination of David Keeling to head OSHA and Wayne Palmer to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in a party-line vote on a package of more than 100 administration nominations for a range of positions across numerous federal agencies.

Employers who face deadlines to contest OSHA citations during the government shutdown should file necessary documents on time even though the agency will be unable to review such challenges until it resumes normal operations, attorneys with the firm Conn Maciel Carey recommend.

If there is a lapse in federal appropriations for the Labor Department (DOL), OSHA expects to furlough nearly three-quarters of its employees and be limited only to functions concerning matters “of emergencies involving the safety of human life or protection of property,” according to a DOL contingency plan.

The House Education and Workforce Committee has advanced legislation along party lines to codify OSHA’s longstanding Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), with Republicans touting the bill’s ability to save OSHA resources and taxpayer dollars but Democrats arguing the bill will do little to actually protect workers.

House appropriators are outlining their priorities for funding to address workplace safety and health issues, highlighting concerns about drug overdoses, mining issues, firefighting-related cancer and health issues for vehicle mechanics, with many of their recommendations focused on the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).