Democrats and labor union officials are concerned that the Supreme Court's ruling that public sector workers cannot be required to pay labor dues -- even if they benefit from any contract -- could undercut workplace safety, arguing that the ruling would curtail unions' power and their insistence on safety and other requirements.

Senate appropriators are seeking a $4 million funding increase for OSHA in fiscal year 2019, while also preserving a workplace safety training program, a Senate source says, plans that are at odds with provisions in a companion House bill, which GOP leaders stalled amid continuing controversy over the Trump administration's immigration policies.

Senate appropriators are seeking a $4 million funding increase for OSHA in fiscal year 2019, while also preserving a workplace safety training program, a Senate source says, plans that are at odds with provisions in a companion House bill, which GOP leaders stalled amid continuing controversy over the Trump administration's immigration policies.

OSHA is urging a federal judge to reject an advocacy group's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit seeking injury and illness records submitted under the agency's May 2016 record-keeping and reporting rule update, saying that release of the information will encourage employers to withhold reports in violation of the rule.

EPA is seeking to strengthen its 2001 lead paint dust hazard standards that trigger abatement and protective measures in homes and facilities undergoing renovation and repair but the agency is declining, for now, environmentalists calls for a new definition of “lead paint” that informs federal efforts to reduce exposure to lead in paint.

Environmentalists' lawsuit challenging EPA's framework for reviewing new chemicals' risks, including to workers, appears to face legal hurdles because it challenges a policy that is not yet final but it nevertheless appears to have dissuaded the agency from following the novel process it floated last year to speed chemical reviews, industry and environmental attorneys say.

The Trump administration is proposing to merge the Departments of Education (DOE) and Labor (DOL) into a new Department of Education and Workforce in which OSHA would be placed into an “enforcement” sub agency, a plan that is drawing concern from Democrats and labor groups who fear it would undercut the agency's workplace safety mission.

The House has unanimously approved a bill that would create an advisory committee to provide recommendations to the Labor Department (DOL) on ways to limit the impact of opioids on workplace safety, though in a nod to GOP fears about new regulations, the panel's jurisdiction is limited to providing “informational resources and best practices.”

OSHA is extending the comment period on its proposed rulemaking seeking to expand and clarify requirements for employers to verify crane operators training and certification requirements in response to calls from several large industry trade groups seeking additional time to address concerns that the plan is overly burdensome.

The National Employment Law Project (NELP) in a new report is faulting OSHA for scaling back enforcement in the first years of the Trump administration, arguing that enforcement is continuing to decline at an “accelerated pace,” despite the agency's recent touting of an uptick in inspection numbers in fiscal year (FY) 2017 over the prior year.