Month: April 2016
New Health, Safety Data Drives Advocates’ Push For Stricter OSHA Policies
New federal health and safety data showing an increase in the number of workplace injury and deaths is prompting new calls from labor and other advocates for policymakers to strengthen OSHA’s policies and practices, including issuance of long-awaited standards, increased enforcement and inspection funds and…
Unions Craft Petition Seeking OSHA Rule Addressing Health Facility Violence
Bolstered by calls from top Democrats and a long-awaited congressional investigation, a broad coalition of labor unions is preparing a formal petition asking OSHA to set a comprehensive workplace violence prevention standard to protect healthcare workers. A source familiar with the issue says the coalition,…
Industry Urges Congress To Block Silica Rule To Force New OSHA Review
The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) is urging Congress to block OSHA’s silica rule until the agency has reconsidered the measure’s impacts on small businesses, a call that at least one key Republican lawmaker signaled he is prepared to support. “I urge Congress to consider…
OSHA Clarifies Enforcement Of Updated Hazard Communication Standard
OSHA in a recent letter of interpretation (LOI) has clarified aspects of its policy for enforcing the agency’s updated 2012 Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) after industry groups raised concerns about shipping existing stocks of covered chemicals that were already packaged and labeled to comply with…
Labor Groups’ Suit Over Silica Rule May Signal Push For Stricter Standards
A coalition of major labor groups is suing OSHA over its controversial rule setting new standards to limit occupational exposures to crystaline silica, suggesting they may push to strengthen the regulation even as industry groups argue the measure is unlawful because it is technologically and…
OSHA Draws Multiple Industry Challenges To Just-Promulgated Silica Rule
Just days after its promulgation, OSHA’s rule setting strict new standards for crystaline silica has drawn at least three separate appellate challenges from various industry groups, launching a process that will allow the groups to make the case that the new exposure limits that are…
