Industry and business groups are ramping up a campaign to convince California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to veto a labor-backed bill to bar employers from relying on automated decision-making systems (ADS) to make certain employment decisions -- including those aimed at aiding worker safety -- without human oversight.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is renewing its bid to dismiss labor unions’ challenge to Trump administration cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), arguing the unions have failed to demonstrate any non-speculative harms to establish standing, even with an amended complaint.

A first-time national study finds that hot temperatures are a significant risk factor for a wide array of workplace injuries beyond heat illness or heat stroke, although state heat illness-prevention standards appear to lessen the risk.

The Senate has confirmed President Trump’s nomination of David Keeling to head OSHA and Wayne Palmer to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in a party-line vote on a package of more than 100 administration nominations for a range of positions across numerous federal agencies.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is recommending steps states should take to bolster health and safety protections for workers to lock-in current federal protections and close gaps in areas OSHA does not regulate, arguing federal worker protections are under attack by the Trump administration.

An employer advocacy group is heavily faulting California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) proposed first-time rules to protect workers from sliding and swinging gates at worksites, arguing the measures capture far too many small gates and go far beyond the breadth of coverage envisioned in a petition accepted by the agency to draft the new standards.

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.

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.

If there is a lapse in federal appropriations for the Labor Department (DOL), OSHA expects to furlough nearly three-quarters of its employees and be limited only to functions concerning matters “of emergencies involving the safety of human life or protection of property,” according to a DOL contingency plan.

Mining industry groups are generally backing the goals of the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) proposal to allow use of electronic surveying equipment in high-hazard areas of underground coal mines under certain circumstances, but are urging some additional clarifications.