Enforcement

Employer attorneys are urging companies to reexamine their environment, health and safety (EHS) recordkeeping policies in light of updated OSHA inspection guidance, warning that even companies with comparatively low injury and illness rates may be flagged for inspection if OSHA suspects inaccurate reporting.

A Texas drilling company is asking a federal district court to vacate a workplace safety citation and declare the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) unconstitutional on multiple grounds, becoming at least the second company to raise such arguments about OSHRC in the wake of a landmark high court decision.

The AFL-CIO is calling on Congress to “immediately intervene” to require the Trump administration to reinstate all staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as well as defend a federal budget that maintains and increases funding for job safety agencies like OSHA.

A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit appeared skeptical during recent oral argument of a construction company’s arguments that OSHA’s multiemployer citation policy is unreasonable on its face and that the agency’s “selective” enforcement of the policy is also unreasonable.

A leading chemical industry attorney is urging the Trump administration to engage industry and other stakeholders in strengthening the coordination between EPA and OSHA, arguing that a newly issued memorandum of understanding (MOU) fails to provide the necessary clarity on their respective regulatory roles.

OSHA is touting the Biden administration’s focus on increased enforcement as a key factor in a decrease in fatal occupational injuries in 2023, noting especially the administration’s focus on recognizing the disproportionate impact of work hazards on workers of color.

OSHA and EPA have released an agreement months in the making that outlines how the two agencies will share information and coordinate when EPA is reviewing workers’ safety in its TSCA existing chemical evaluations and enforcing risk management rules, while reiterating the two agencies’ unique authorities and responsibilities.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is announcing a 2.6 percent increase to the minimum and maximum OSH Act penalties for violations cited in 2025, reflecting an annual inflation adjustment that is less than the previous year and triggering a regulatory mandate for state plans to apply a matching adjustment to their own penalties.

Federal appellate judges are ordering the Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and an employer to explain why their bid to overturn an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) decision blocking an enforcement settlement should not be dismissed, while signaling that the ALJ body may be allowed to defend its ruling directly if the case proceeds.

An agriculture firm is arguing that OSHA’s long-standing guidance on how it divides enforcement authority over “rolling stock” with the Department of Transportation is too “vague” to support a 2021 citation that claims the employer “willfully” failed to comply with fall safety standards during railcar loading operations.