Enforcement

Jonathan Snare was sworn in as the new chairman of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) Nov. 24, although it is unclear when the panel will reach a quorum allowing it to hear appeals of OSHA enforcement actions that have been adjudicated by an administrative law judge (ALJ).

North Carolina’s Republican labor commissioner is urging Senate Democrats to end the ongoing federal government shutdown, warning that unless OSHA grants to states are restored, North Carolina will be forced to furlough safety inspectors, putting the state’s workers at risk.

Labor unions and occupational health experts are urging OSHA to withdraw a proposed rule that would narrow the agency’s interpretation of the General Duty Clause to exclude certain activities from enforcement, saying the proposal violates the agency’s statutory mandate and is based on faulty legal reasoning.

Employers are closely watching a pair of related cases awaiting rulings from the 10th Circuit that could temper OSHA’s ability to issue citations under the General Duty Clause for workplace violence by imposing stricter requirements on the agency’s burden of proof, legal experts say.

The National Construction Policy Institute (NCPI) is outlining legislative and regulatory changes it says are necessary to create a “fair, predictable, and legally defensible” framework for OSHA’s controversial multi-employer citation policy, arguing the agency’s current approach is “unsustainable.”

The Senate’s confirmation earlier this month of Jonathan Snare to serve on the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) restores its ability to review administrative law judge (ALJ) decisions, although OSHRC still lacks a quorum to make decisions on cases sent for review.

With the Senate’s recent confirmation of David Keeling as the head of OSHA, agency observers are outlining potential regulatory and enforcement changes under the Trump administration, including likely rollbacks of certain reporting requirements and other Biden-era priorities while possibly finalizing some version of a national heat standard.

Employers who face deadlines to contest OSHA citations during the government shutdown should file necessary documents on time even though the agency will be unable to review such challenges until it resumes normal operations, attorneys with the firm Conn Maciel Carey recommend.

OSHA has renewed voluntary worker safety information agreements with solid waste and recycling trade groups as part of its Alliance Program, highlighting a range of areas where the participants will serve as “information intermediaries” aiding the agency in its outreach efforts.

The Labor Department (DOL) is defending an OSHA citation that ExxonMobil failed to properly record the mental health diagnosis of an employee following a December 2021 explosion and fire at the company’s Baytown, TX, complex, telling a federal appeals court the agency’s actions are clearly supported by the OSH Act.