Category: News
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…
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…
OSHA Delays Controversial PSM Chemical Concentration Enforcement Policy
Facing industry litigation and congressional criticisms, OSHA has delayed until the end of the 2016 fiscal year implementation of its controversial policy for determining threshold concentrations for when some so-called Appendix A chemicals are subject to the agency’s process safety management (PSM) standard for highly…
