Government Affairs News

The failure of some states to be in sync with the federal requirements, or those of other state plans, poses a compliance dilemma for employers and their safety and health consultant-advisors whose workplaces are subject to both federal OSHA and multiple state plan enforcement activities.

Since the 2016 passage of the Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, controversy has developed over the requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act for the Environmental Protection Agency to make risk assessments and determine protection measures for workers. In December 2017, EPA held a public meeting to discuss the framework it proposes to use for assessing new chemicals.

"The best-performing companies employ occupational safety and health professionals to implement and manage safety and health programs throughout the U.S. and across the globe. These Recommended Practices can encourage more employers to embrace what ASSE members already know: applying the risk management principles inherent in safety and health management programs succeed in helping make workplaces safe and productive in companies of all sizes.

In an e-mail on Jan. 25, 2017, Bruce Lundegren, assistant chief counsel from the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy, advised small business representatives about the Trump administration's "Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” memorandum, which was issued to heads of executive departments and agencies on Jan. 20. The memorandum "is designed to ensure that the President's appointees or designees have the opportunity to review any new or pending regulations."

The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) – representing more than 37,000 occupational safety and health professionals across the globe – supports the mission of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and is deeply troubled that the CSB is targeted for elimination in President Trump’s budget blueprint for 2018.

Although the Respirable Crystalline Silica construction standard (29 CFR 1926.1153), becomes enforceable on Sept. 23, 2017, compliance officers are, for the first 30 days of enforcement, to evaluate good-faith efforts taken by employers in their attempts to meet the new construction silica standard.

NIOSH has released National Occupational Research Agenda: Second Decade in Review | 2006-2016, a new publication that highlights ten years of OSH research and accesses its impact.

On Aug. 1, 2017, OSHA went live with the data submission platform that certain employers will need to use when submitting their injury and illness (I/I) data to the agency by the revised Dec. 1, 2017, deadline. The requirements arise under OSHA’s electronic recordkeeping rule, which was promulgated in May 2016.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and National Safety Council recently hosted a roundtable on advanced driver assistance systems for commercial trucks. Despite the growing availability of these technologies, many trucking organizations and independent operators have not fully embraced them for their vehicles, NTSB says.

A new NIOSH report examines young worker fatalities that occurred between 1994 and 2013. The report presents information by demographic characteristics, employer characteristics, incident circumstances and temporal patterns. During this time period, 942 occupational fatalities occurred among youth workers, 88% of whom were male.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s has revved up its Our Roads, Our Safety campaign via a new partnership with American Bus Association, AAA and American Trucking Association. The campaign's newest material aims to raise awareness among the general public about how to safely operate around and share the road with large trucks and buses.

Occupation, lack of paid sick leave and multiple psychosocial factors are related to workers’ own perceived low health status. “Knowing which aspects of a person’s job can lead to poor health can help public health and employee wellness professionals develop tailored workplace interventions to advance worker well-being," says lead researcher Sara Luckhaupt.​

On March 27, 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 13782 that revoked former President Obama’s EO 13673 (the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Order) that was originally signed into law on July 31, 2014. Worker safety advocates supported the rule, and see the revocation as a clear sign that Congress and the administration are focused on business interests and not worker safety.

On March 27, 2017, MSHA proposed to delay the effective date of its Workplace Examination final rule for surface and underground metal/nonmetal (MNM) mines from May 23 until July 24, 2017. The delay is connected to the Trump Administration's order on reviewing pending regulations as well as litigation initiated by several industry groups.

President Trump signed H.J. Res 83 into law, blocking the so-called Volks rule that would have allowed OSHA to cite employers for failures to record or for misrecording workplace injuries or illnesses that occurred up to 5 years prior to when the citation is written among other provisions.

NIOSH's has added two modules to the Occupational Health Safety Network (OHSN) that allow for the tracking of sharps incidents and blood and body fluid exposures among healthcare workers. Healthcare facilities use OHSN voluntarily to share injury data, track injury trends and devise effective interventions.​

The U.S. Senate voted to eliminate the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order that would have required contractors to disclose and correct serious safety violations in order to compete for federal contracts. A similar measure already passed in the House, and it is expected that President Trump will finalize the move.

OSHA has issued a final rule that lowers workplace exposure to beryllium, a metal material that can cause lung disease. The agency reports that beryllium can become highly toxic when it is processed in a way that releases airborne dust, fumes or mist into air that can then be inhaled by workers.

Truck drivers who fail a drug and alcohol test will now be listed on a national clearinghouse, set to be established by by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The OSHA Alliance Construction Roundtable has published a white paper, "Proposed Strategies for the Occupational Safety and Health Community to More Effectively Reach Small Contractors in Residential Construction," that aims to help OSH professionals reach small residential construction contractors.​