The Republican takeover of the Senate likely foretells huge new difficulties for OSHA's regulatory and enforcement agenda, with one prediction especially dire for the agency: that the GOP will almost certainly try to obstruct, or even dash altogether, longtime efforts to issue a rule clamping down on crystalline silica exposures, Washington sources say.

NIOSH chief John Howard this week outlined several major research priorities that he views as central to government – and industry-wide – efforts to protect workers from Ebola and other diseases, saying the need to match worker exposure levels to appropriate use of personal protective equipment, as well as to test methods for determining the amount of protection from a given type of PPE, are key research issues for infection control experts.

OSHA in attempting to issue an infectious disease rule that would apply in health care settings is asking small business representatives to consider a requirement that hospitals retain in-house occupational health experts or hire dedicated consultants to combat the potential spread of infectious agents among workers.

The Institute of Medicine will hold a public meeting Monday (Nov. 3) to discuss Ebola research that could be conducted under real-world conditions in order to provide public health officials and the public accurate information about the virus' transmission, mitigation of health risks, and appropriate measure to prevent the spread of the disease, the IOM announced.

OSHA in a tentative regulatory step toward fighting infectious disease transmission in health care settings floats the idea of written, highly specific control plans, which sources say is outside the traditional OSHA approach and akin to injury and illness prevention programs.

The American Hospital Association, American Medical Association and American Nurses Association issued a joint statement Tuesday backing recent guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aimed at stopping the spread of Ebola.

OSHA has drafted the framework for an envisioned rule to help stop the spread of infectious diseases in health care work settings, putting a conceptual blueprint of the rule before small business advocates in a required next step of trying to advance the rule, which would in OSHA's eyes include a written infection control plan and qualified personnel within hospitals to oversee disease control efforts on behalf of workers.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is weighing competing comments on improving its facility security program, with industry groups citing an "inherent conflict" with Environmental Protection Agency information-sharing requirements and urging changes to DHS' inspection protocols, while labor and community groups are calling for greater coordination with other federal programs, including OSHA inspections.

OSHA has produced new guidelines in response to Ebola saying workers cleaning or decontaminating for Ebola must use at a “minimum” NIOSH-approved, fit-tested N95 respirators in situations where there could be exposure to the deadly virus through a bio-aerosol, such as could occur from spraying liquids or air during cleaning.

OSHA is “determined” to finalize new regulations before the end of the Obama administration that lower exposure limits and put practices in place to control crystalline silica dust, agency chief David Michaels said Monday.