Month: May 2016
OSHA Official Warns Employers To Prevent Heat-Related Incidents
With average temperatures rising as a result of climate change, a top OSHA official is warning employers to ensure they take adequate precautions to protect their workers from heat-related injury or death, or face risk of enforcement actions and penalties. Kelly Schnapp, director of OSHA’s…
Congress Moves To Gut OSHA Plan To Weigh Violations In Procurement
Despite a threatened veto from the White House, the Senate appears slated to join the House in adopting legislation that would gut OSHA’s plan for implementing President Obama’s directive that the agency consider government contractors’ records of workplace violations in granting contracts. The Senate has…
Industry Details Strategy To Stymie OSHA’s Electronic Reporting Rule
Industry groups are laying out a multi-part strategy aimed at stymieing — and eventually rewriting — OSHA’s recently finalized electronic recordkeeping and reporting rule, signaling the measure will face significant opposition in Congress and the courts as the Obama administration prepares to leave office in…
Rules To Protect Workers From Chemicals, Falls Top OSHA’s Agenda
OSHA is planning to advance several dozen rules and proposed rules in the coming year, ranging from measures to protect workers from slips, trips and falls, industrial facility accidents and exposure to numerous toxic chemicals, according to a federal rulemaking docket. In the Spring 2016…
OSHA Official Says Industry Court Challenges Unlikely To Delay Silica Rule
A top OSHA official is pushing back against industry plans to delay implementation of the agency’s new rule limiting silica exposures in workplaces, calling recent industry appeals court challenges to the rule an “expected” consequence of any major OSHA rule, and saying the lawsuits are…
Facing Suit, OSHA Chief Offers Broad Defense Of New Injury Reporting Rule
Facing an almost certain legal challenge from industry groups, OSHA chief David Michaels is offering a broad legal and policy defense of the agency’s new rule requiring facilities to report worker injury data, arguing the measure is legally justified and will encourage employers to provide…
Industry Backs ‘Abatement Before Citation’ Bill, But Says Right To Contest Should Be Preserved
Industry advocates are voicing strong support for a measure put forth by Rep. Vickly Hartzler (R-MO) to alter OSHA enforcement by letting employers sidestep citations for non-serious regulatory violations as long as the alleged hazards are abated during a “grace period,” but there is also…
