Federal agencies are scrambling to protect the U.S. workforce from the coronavirus threat, with EPA announcing that its staff should be prepared to soon start teleworking to reduce exposure risks and OSHA detailing a range of voluntary steps companies can take to reduce employees’ risks depending on their potential exposure.

Federal agencies are scrambling to protect the U.S. workforce from the coronavirus threat, with EPA announcing that its staff should be prepared to soon start teleworking to reduce exposure risks and OSHA detailing a range of voluntary steps companies can take to reduce employees’ risks depending on their potential exposure.

With the federal chemical security program’s power slated to expire next month, its future is in doubt as lawmakers are at an impasse over whether to eliminate and replace it with a voluntary effort that the Trump administration and some Senate Republicans favor, or temporarily extend it as House Democrats and some industry groups prefer.

With the federal chemical security program’s power slated to expire next month, its future is in doubt as lawmakers are at an impasse over whether to eliminate and replace it with a voluntary effort that the Trump administration and some Senate Republicans favor, or temporarily extend it as House Democrats and some industry groups prefer.

House Democrats are pushing legislation that would force OSHA to issue an emergency temporary standard to protect healthcare workers caring for patients suffering from coronavirus, noting there is no such mandatory federal policy and that Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance to protect the workers is not binding.

House Democrats are pushing legislation that would force OSHA to issue an emergency temporary standard to protect healthcare workers caring for patients suffering from coronavirus, noting there is no such mandatory federal policy and that Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance to protect the workers is not binding.

The National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health (NIOSH) is launching a pilot study to evaluate workplace hazards facing landscapers and groundskeepers and to develop “appropriate” controls for one of the highest-risk sectors, seeking participants to take part as NIOSH eyes options for reducing workers’ exposures to substances like silica.

A key House Democrat is questioning EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler over the regulatory impact of the administration’s decision to drop as the basis for its evaluation of trichloroethylene (TCE) studies showing in utero exposure can cause cardiac birth defects, asking whether this may allow the agency to avoid banning the chemical.

Congress’ supplemental $7.8 billion funding bill to tackle the spread of the coronavirus includes $10 million for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to pursue worker-based training to prevent and reduce exposures to the virus of hospital employees, emergency first responders, and other workers at risk.

Congress’ supplemental $7.8 billion funding bill to tackle the spread of the coronavirus includes $10 million for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to pursue worker-based training to prevent and reduce exposures to the virus of hospital employees, emergency first responders, and other workers at risk.