OSHA has issued a revised version of its National Emphasis Program (NEP) for heat-related hazards after allowing a Biden-era version of the NEP to lapse, cutting the overall number of industries targeted by the program and removing a mandate to increase inspections.
OSHA has allowed the Biden-era heat National Emphasis Program (NEP) to expire even as it remains unclear when or if the agency will finalize a national heat illness and injury standard, although legal experts note that even without the NEP, OSHA could still take enforcement action under the General Duty Clause.
The D.C. Circuit has dismissed the Labor Department’s (DOL) attempt to preserve broad authority over enforcement of mine safety standards, finding it lacks jurisdiction to hear a pair of consolidated cases on the issue because the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC) has not yet issued final decisions.
D.C. Circuit judges focused their questions at March 30 oral argument on case-specific issues in an oil and gas drilling specialty contractor’s challenge to an OSHA citation stemming from a 2022 accident where a pipe ruptured at a gas well in south Texas, rather than engage with the firm’s broader challenge to the General Duty Clause.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued its first-ever corporate disclosure policy encouraging criminal violators to come forward and win “rewards” for self-disclosing wrongdoing, a shift that better aligns with the Trump administration’s broader compliance stance at OSHA and other agencies, industry attorneys say.
OSHA is touting the launch of its new OSHA Cares compliance assistance initiative that it says is focused on helping businesses meet federal workplace safety requirements while also building strong, successful safety and health programs that benefit employers and workers.
A Texas oil field equipment supplier is challenging the constitutionality of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) after receiving OSHA citations related to the death of a subcontractor’s employee, becoming the latest company seeking to expand the Supreme Court’s 2024 Jarkesy ruling.
The 4th Circuit has scheduled oral argument for May 5 in litigation where South Carolina is seeking to reinstate its challenge to OSHA’s requirement that states match annual increases to federal minimum and maximum OSH Act penalties after a federal judge last year dismissed for a second time the state’s challenge.
An employer-focused attorney is cautioning companies that a new OSHA compliance-assistance program is only a start to ensuring workplaces are following federal requirements, even as the agency continues to tout the program’s benefits.
OSHA’s redesign of a poster that employers must post informing employees of the protections and obligations provided for in the OSH Act fails to provide information on some of employees’ most important rights and makes no mention of key employer responsibilities, Obama-era OSHA chief Jordan Barab says.