Democratic attorneys general (AGs) in seven states are petitioning OSHA to issue an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for occupational heat exposure to take effect on May 1, arguing that workplace heat exacerbated by climate change poses a “grave danger” to tens of millions of employees around the country.
Oregon logging and forestry groups will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to let them challenge the state’s workplace safety rules in federal court on the theory that state plans are effectively agents of OSHA rather than their own state governments -- an approach that would open the door to bifurcated litigation on a host of issues.
California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board has narrowly voted to recommend that agency staff add “exclusion pay” requirements to a forthcoming long-term infectious disease standard for general industry, renewing debate over the mandate after officials dropped it from new COVID-19 safety standards.
Employer representatives and worker-safety advocates are targeting a host of upcoming California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) draft safety rules for scrutiny and likely policy battles, including standards for lead exposures, workplace violence, indoor heat, and a permanent infectious disease standard that is expected to include a controversial “exclusion pay” requirement.
Groups that advocate for domestic workers are intensifying pressure on California lawmakers and regulators to pursue first-time workplace safety standards for the sector, following a Jan. 9 webinar where they expressed frustration with a California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) official who overstated current protections for domestic work.
Employer attorneys are preparing for California’s first steps to implement several new worker-safety laws slated to take effect in 2023, including measures extending COVID-19 sick-leave requirements and new mandates for protecting employees during certain “emergency” events.
California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board has approved final COVID-19 worker-safety rules, despite ongoing unease among key stakeholder groups -- including labor representatives unhappy that an “exclusion pay” requirement was left out of the standard, and employers who fear that mandate will return in a future rule for general infectious diseases.
California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board is easing requirements in its final proposed update to first-aid kit requirements for general industry and construction firms pertaining to the type of container required, but is maintaining a mandate to check the kits weekly despite employer representatives’ continued opposition.
A California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) advisory committee and agency staff are poised to finalize joint recommendations to state lawmakers for policies to protect the health and safety of privately employed household domestic service workers, as well as voluntary guidelines for the sector targeting both workers and employers.
California lawmakers signaled at a recent hearing that they are open to new legislation that would speed up worker-safety rulemakings and bolster enforcement at the state’s OSHA (Cal/OSHA), after labor representatives complained that several critical safety standards are taking years to complete and enforcement is lacking at best in many key sectors.