House Democrats are pushing new legislation to reverse the landmark 2012 court ruling that imposed a strict six-month limit on OSHA’s enforcement of recordkeeping and reporting mandates, following release of a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that blames the decision for a dramatic enforcement drop.
Amazon is suing New York’s state government to block an enforcement action over COVID-19 exposures at one of its warehouses -- claiming the action is preempted by the OSH Act and further escalating a legal battle over whether states can enforce their pandemic protections in workplaces that OSHA regulates.
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) is outlining an ambitious agenda for the Biden OSHA, including strict COVID-19 workplace standards and increased enforcement, but also a long-term effort to “rebuild” the agency by raising staff levels and reforming the process for crafting new safety standards.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is calling for OSHA to tighten its response to COVID-19, especially its oversight and tracking of regional enforcement actions related to the pandemic -- recommendations Trump-era officials rejected but which the agency could revisit under the Biden administration.
California Attorney General (AG) Xavier Becerra (D) is launching a new section within his division of public rights that will in part bolster enforcement of worker health and safety rules, including of the controversial new Cal/OSHA emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers from COVID-19.
Attorneys representing employers expect OSHA to quickly implement President Joe Biden’s agenda for the agency including aggressive enforcement and a new COVID-19 standard, but several pending lawsuits and enforcement challenges could end up curtailing its authority regardless.
Labor unions and worker safety groups are welcoming President-elect Joe Biden’s first appointees to OSHA as a sign that the agency will move quickly on the new administration’s priority agenda for pandemic response, enforcement and a host of other issues, even before Biden names a permanent OSHA head.
President Joe Biden is poised to step up OSHA’s enforcement program, with employers bracing for heavier penalties and additional inspections including but not limited to cases involving the COVID-19 pandemic, just as the agency is finalizing an action to raise its statutory maximum penalties for enforcement actions in 2021.
Local unions are welcoming President-elect Joe Biden’s selection of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as Labor Secretary, praising Walsh both for his overall stance on worker safety and his administration’s imposition of comprehensive workplace protections from COVID-19 -- previewing a top priority for the Biden OSHA.
President-elect Joe Biden has selected Boston Mayor Marty Walsh (D), a former president of the city’s building union, as his nominee for Secretary of Labor, following through on campaign promises to give unions a strong voice in labor policy and putting Walsh in charge of an expected push to ramp up OSHA’s enforcement efforts.