OSHA’s construction-sector advisory panel is providing a mixed response to the agency’s proposals to streamline and provide compliance flexibility for chemical-specific respirator standards -- backing some, opposing others and deadlocking on two -- after previously narrowly opposing other aspects of OSHA’s deregulatory package.

EPA and petroleum refiners are renewing their efforts to dismiss a suit challenging the agency’s denial of a petition seeking stricter regulation of hydrogen fluoride (HF) to prevent accidental chemical releases that could harm workers or residents, charging the case is doomed because it relies on uncertain worst-case scenarios.

New analysis from a coal miners’ advocacy group, using data collected by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), finds that 20 percent of surface and underground mines sampled for silica exposure in 2025 had levels of silica dust above the standard set in a now-paused Biden-era MSHA rule.

OSHA is announcing two virtual public meetings to gather comments and information ahead of United Nations meetings on chemical classification and labeling, in order to help shape the U.S. government’s position going into the international sessions.

The Labor Department (DOL) is agreeing to increase its data collection from recipients of the Black Lung Benefits Program to better track whether mine operators are providing the same level of medical coverage as the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, following a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation.

One of the greatest emerging worker safety issues is the Trump administration’s continued efforts to slash funding for OSHA and other worker safety agencies, which if successful would hamper efforts to prevent illness, injuries and deaths, Biden-era OSHA chief Douglas Parker told a House panel May 13.

An employer advocacy organization is complimenting California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) for proposing to scale back certain provisions of a long-overdue rule to update the agency’s first-aid kit standard for general industry and construction, including over how “readily available” the kits must be and to what extent vehicles are included.

New analysis from the progressive economic think tank Groundwork Collaborative finds OSHA’s failure to enact a national heat standard is contributing to as many as 1,500 worker deaths per year and that the lack of federal action is tied to “regulatory paralysis” driven by coordinated opposition from large business organizations.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is agreeing with most of the recommendations from the Labor Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) aimed at improving the agency’s preparedness for mine emergencies, though it disputes it violated budgeting law and remains at odds over underground communication systems.

A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit appeared highly skeptical at recent oral argument of South Carolina’s effort to reinstate litigation challenging OSHA’s authority to require states to match annual increases to federal OSH Act penalties, questioning in part whether the state is making new arguments on appeal.