Cal/OSHA is scheduled later this month to approve first-time emergency rules to protect outdoor workers from wildfire smoke, which could serve as a model for other states that lack such measures and are also experiencing increasing numbers and intensity of fires due in part to climate change.
Facing a court deadline, the Trump administration has issued a final rule that codifies its earlier plans to strengthen its standards identifying hazards contractors and others face from lead paint dust in residences while declining to adopt a new definition of “lead paint,” an approach that appears likely to draw a suit from groups who criticized the proposed version of the plans.
The federal Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is renewing its long-standing recommendation that OSHA craft rules subjecting onshore oil and gas drilling operations to a specific safety standard following an investigation into a fatal 2018 rig explosion in Oklahoma.
Setting a precedent for federal policymakers, Cal/OSHA is revising a draft proposal to expand its healthcare industry workplace violence prevention rules to all general industry, after reviewing comments from stakeholder groups that include opposition by employer representatives.
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.
Labor attorneys say the OSHA review commission’s “landmark” ruling upholding the agency's use of General Duty Clause authority to address a fatal workplace violence incident is a precursor to OSHA issuing a workplace violence standard, and that until then, companies should take steps to avoid potential citation.
OSHA is considering expanding its so-called “lockout/tagout” safety standard governing excess energy in power equipment to allow control circuit type devices -- such as push buttons and selector switches -- to be used to shutter equipment and to extend the standard to robotic equipment, which is increasingly being used in manufacturing.
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.
Workplace safety lawyers say OSHA will have a “learning experience” from its recent high-profile loss in a review commission case undoing an agency General Duty Clause citation for a roofing firm employee’s death from heat stress, and that the agency will pursue similar cases in the future and build a more substantial legal argument for them.
Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, says his union opposes Democrats’ Green New Deal (GND) that promotes policies to tackle climate change, strengthen workplace health and safety standards, improve the environment, and boost jobs, striking a major blow against the plan that is already stalled in Congress.