Congress

Nearly a dozen Democratic senators are stepping up pressure on the Trump administration to address allegations of workplace violence at McDonalds, putting pressure on OSHA to toughen its scrutiny of the company even as they struggle to advance legislation requiring the agency to quickly set a standard for the health sector.

A House panel voted June 19 along party lines to approve Democratic legislation renewing and strengthening the Department of Homeland Security’s chemical facility safety program, though lawmakers pledged to continue working to reach a bipartisan deal before the program expires next year.

The House Education and Labor Committee has approved on bipartisan lines a bill that would set speedy deadlines for OSHA to adopt standards aimed at limiting workplace violence in the healthcare and social service sectors, though the measure faces limited prospects in the Republican-controlled Senate which is unlikely to consider the bill.

A Senate panel is gearing up for a new round of debate on reauthorizing the Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, but senators signaled during a June 4 roundtable that while they agree on the need for a long-term extension, they remain divided over how much flexibility to provide.

OSHA appears poised to remain without a Senate-confirmed administrator for the foreseeable future after the Trump administration's long-delayed nominee, Scott Mugno, withdrew his name from consideration despite eased Senate rules that had been expected to ease his path to confirmation.

The chairman and ranking member of a Senate governmental affairs committee panel are poised to introduce bills they say will make “surgical fixes” to the regulatory process by creating a test to ensure health and safety rules are effective via future retrospective reviews and providing more opportunity for early input on proposed measures.

Top House Republicans say they could agree to a compromise with Democrats on a bill to limit asbestos risks, though they say any deal will have to address concerns that a bill does not unduly limit production of chlorine used to treat drinking water and does not impose infeasible testing and other requirements on federal agencies.

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta says the Labor Department (DOL) is considering writing a new procedural rule that would limit OSHA and other entities' use of guidance documents to make policy in the wake of an Inspector General finding that the agency, during the Obama administration, did not take adequate steps when issuing guidance, opening it up to legal challenges.

Under pressure from Democrats to quickly craft an OSHA standard on workplace violence in the health sector, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta acknowledged that DOL is behind schedule creating a special panel to consider small business concerns though he declined to commit to a series of requests for speedier and more aggressive action.

As Congress returns from its two-week recess, labor groups are stepping up their calls for lawmakers to restore Obama-era OSHA rules that Republicans have reversed and craft new rules governing workplace violence, heat stress, chemical safety and other issues, though such legislation is unlikely to be considered in the GOP Senate.