Appellate judges at recent oral argument in a closely watched case over the scope of OSHA’s process safety management (PSM) standard gave little indication of how they plan to rule, as members of the three-judge panel all appeared to wrestle with several aspects of the highly complicated case.
September 16, 2026
OSHA is vowing to increase in-person inspections as states move to loosen restrictions on business operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, replacing its interim guidance on investigating claims of workplace violations related to the disease with a plan to ramp up its enforcement actions as local conditions allow.
Date:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit is poised to hear oral argument May 6 in a closely watched suit over a decision by OSHA’s review panel upholding an enforcement action against an Oklahoma refiner for alleged process safety management (PSM) standard violations, which industry says unfairly expands the scope of the PSM.
Date:
State attorneys general (AGs) and employment lawyers are opposing the White House Office of Management & Budget’s (OMB) call for input on potentially tightening due process protections in civil enforcement actions at OSHA and elsewhere, arguing that there is no rational or legal basis for any such reforms.
Date:
OSHA has launched a National Emphasis Program (NEP) to focus its resources on enforcing silica standards for manufacturing, construction and several other industries, while also requiring states to adopt the NEP in order to identify and reduce or eliminate worker exposures to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) in the affected sectors.
Date:
Following the lead set by OHSA’s effort to bolster enforcement, the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) is ramping up its worker safety compliance efforts, raising the civil penalties that it can impose against mine owners, and touting the fact that compliance outreach efforts have led to a major drop in annual mining fatalities.
Date:
OSHA’s budget faces a slight cut from $581.2 million down to $576.8 million in President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2021 funding proposal, but the plan also includes small targeted funding increases for a host of agency programs including enforcement, compliance assistance, whistleblower programs, and more.
Date:
OSHA has issued a final rule that hikes by almost 2 percent the cost of civil penalties it will impose when enforcing against employers for violations of its policies, a move that may result in increases in total penalties imposed as part of a broader effort by OSHA to increase enforcement.
Date:
Senators by unanimous consent on Jan. 9 approved the nominations of Cynthia Atwood and Amanda Laihow as members of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), clearing the path for the panel to resume its long-stalled work on reviewing a host of contested OSHA workplace citations and penalties.
Date:
Citing recent OSHA advice, a management-side attorney is urging employers to assess whether their workers face potential hazards from the widespread use of headphones to listen to music even though there is no OSHA standard prohibiting it.
Date: