OSHA is announcing changes to the division of enforcement of workplace safety and health between the federal government and Maryland and Puerto Rico, clarifying that OSHA will cover certain private-sector employment in Maryland and reinstating federal coverage of similar private-sector employment in Puerto Rico.

OSHA is announcing changes to the division of enforcement of workplace safety and health between the federal government and Maryland and Puerto Rico, clarifying that OSHA will cover certain private-sector employment in Maryland and reinstating federal coverage of similar private-sector employment in Puerto Rico.

OSHA’s renewed and revised National Emphasis Program (NEP) for heat hazards is drawing mixed reviews from experts, with employer-focused attorneys noting inspectors will still be able to expand investigations to address heat concerns and worker advocates decrying the lack of numeric inspection targets and other changes.

OSHA’s renewed and revised National Emphasis Program (NEP) for heat hazards is drawing mixed reviews from experts, with employer-focused attorneys noting inspectors will still be able to expand investigations to address heat concerns and worker advocates decrying the lack of numeric inspection targets and other changes.

California lawmakers are advancing a bill to set up a certification program for stone-cutting fabrication shops to help prevent silicosis that is being opposed by worker-safety groups that believe the practice should be banned, as well as a measure aimed at increasing criminal prosecutions of employers when workers are permanently disabled or die.

The Labor Department’s (DOL) plan to shift some whistleblower investigators out of OSHA and into a newly created Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is raising questions about the proposal’s practical effects on investigations that may involve more than one statute, as well as how DOL will be able to handle a growing number of complaints.

Virginia has enacted a law requiring the development of a heat illness standard for indoor and outdoor workers by May 2028, joining a growing list of states that have established or are pursuing state-level heat standards amid uncertainty over whether OSHA will finalize a national standard proposed by the Biden administration.

A Democratic House lawmaker from Illinois is urging EPA to halt its plan to extend compliance deadlines for workplace exposure requirements for two solvents, arguing the agency’s proposal to extend these deadlines contained in Biden-era TSCA risk management rules will weak protections for workers.

OSHA has finalized its revocation of the “house falls” in marine terminals standard after it determined the standard is no longer necessary to protect employees working in marine terminals from occupational safety and health hazards -- the first finalization of a score of deregulatory actions the agency proposed last year.

OSHA has finalized its revocation of the “house falls” in marine terminals standard after it determined the standard is no longer necessary to protect employees working in marine terminals from occupational safety and health hazards -- the first finalization of a score of deregulatory actions the agency proposed last year.