Industry attorneys expect that OSHA will challenge the recent appellate ruling that vacated its 2015 policy that subjected more fertilizer retailers to its process safety management (PSM) rule, noting that the decision limits OSHA's ability to interpret its standards, and will bolster employer challenges to enforcement actions before the agency's review commission and in courts.

Striking a blow to the Obama administration's efforts to bolster facility safety, a federal appeals court has vacated OSHA's controversial 2015 policy narrowing the exemption from its process safety management (PSM) standard for retailers, finding the agency unlawfully issued the memo expanding the reach of its facility worker protection rule without public input.

Local officials from a California county where numerous industrial facility accidents have occurred in recent years are urging OSHA to strengthen its facility worker safety program by covering additional substances and hazards, and adding requirements for facilities to conduct new analyses and emergency drills.

Chemical and petroleum industry groups are urging OSHA to halt or minimize potential revisions to its process safety management (PSM) rule, raising new arguments that the agency lacks statutory authority for some possible changes, while urging officials to streamline any new requirements with upcoming EPA rules.

The Center for Progressive Reform (CPR), a group that advocates for strict health and safety protections, is renewing long-standing calls for OSHA to issue a national standard to protect workers from heat-related injuries and death, an effort that will likely take shape in the next administration.

A magistrate judge is recommending that a federal court limit OSHA's authority to inspect a poultry facility to circumstances surrounding a specific injury, potentially undercutting stepped up efforts by the agency and advocates to increase oversight over the sector.

As EPA prepares to submit its final facility accident prevention rule for White House review, the agency is facing stepped-up calls from Republican attorneys general and some industry officials to withdraw the pending measure and overhaul it to ensure it will not exacerbate risks of terrorist attacks on industrial facilities.

A federal panel advising OSHA on how potential changes to the agency's facility worker protection rule might affect small businesses is opposing any agency mandate that facilities use strict safety measures, known as inherently safer technologies (IST), usually alternative chemicals or processes, and calling for additional analyses prior to any proposal.

OSHA has eased a controversial policy issued last year for determining whether a chemical is present in sufficient concentrations to warrant regulating a facility under the agency's process safety management (PSM) rule, after a legal settlement with the chemical industry that excludes hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid from the policy and postpones enforcement.

OSHA has eased a controversial policy issued last year for determining whether a chemical is present in sufficient concentrations to warrant regulating a facility under the agency's process safety management (PSM) rule, after a legal settlement with the chemical industry that excludes hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid from the policy and postpones enforcement.