Saturday, September 03, 2011
Inside OSHA - 08/10/2010

OSHA Fails To Find 'Bad Actors' In Recordkeeping NEP, Puts Program On Hold

OSHA has temporarily suspended federal inspection activity focused on employer under-recording and is now seeking additional targeting criteria, amid reports from sources that the agency has not found significant problems through a pilot enforcement program targeting the issue. OSHA sources and other stakeholders told Inside OSHA that the agency has not found the number or degree of violations it had expected to uncover through the program.
 

GAO Begins Probe Into Whether Safety Incentive Programs Distort Reporting

The Government Accountability Office is gearing up to probe whether employer incentive programs discourage workers from reporting and affect the accuracy of injury and illness data, following up on a report it conducted last fall and in response to a request from lawmakers.
 

OSHA Reaffirms Anti-Preemption Stance In Cranes Rule

OSHA attached language to its final rule on cranes and derricks formalizing its stance that the regulations do not supersede state and local laws and ordinances as long as those codes meet or exceed federal standards. The issue of preemption arose in a recent court case, in which a steel industry group is seeking to have New York City building codes thrown out on the basis of OSH Act preemption -- a claim that prodded the Labor Department to wade into the dispute. The Labor Department has filed an amicus brief in that case (see Inside OSHA, April 26).
 

Industry Against 'One Size Fits All' Approach To Cranes Regulation

Industry stakeholders say OSHA has devised too uniform a standard in the agency's sweeping new regulations on safe operations of cranes and derricks, contending the final rule does not fully take into account the diversity of construction activities. OSHA published the regulation July 28, unveiling a major overhaul of the nearly 40-year-old crane rule to address technology advances and longstanding safety concerns.
 

CSB Chair Looks To Take On More Investigations, Emphasize Process Safety

The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board's new chair Rafael Moure-Eraso told Inside OSHA in an exclusive interview that CSB is looking for increased funding to conduct its investigation into the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, as well as to take on more investigations to address a larger array of hazards.
 

House Introduces TSCA Reform Bill With Worker Safety Provisions

House lawmakers introduced a bill late last month to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), including provisions that would improve worker protections at chemical facilities. However, the bill didn't add more aggressive OSHA reforms that were reportedly previously floated by the agency. Sources say the bill would strengthen the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to respond to chemical exposures at worksites.
 

OSHA Pressed To Issue Fuel Gas Standard As It Opts For Enforcement Approach

Lawmakers intensified their push for OSHA to take immediate regulatory steps to address workplace safety in the fuel gas industry as a stopgap while the agency potentially tackles the longer process of a final standard, following the agency's decision to issue one of its largest-ever fines and send out letters to the industry warning of enforcement activity instead of pursuing a regulation.
 

Mine/OSHA Reform Bill Introduced In Senate, Awaiting Floor Action In House

A mine safety bill with OSHA reform provisions was recently introduced in the Senate, as a similar bill awaits floor action in the House, but sources say some Senate Democrats may be open to negotiating the OSHA parts of the bill.
 

GOP Floats Proposal To Consider Moving NIOSH To Labor Department

OSHA might be better served in its regulatory function by moving NIOSH to the Labor Department, some Republicans have suggested, as they called during talks on mine safety legislation for a comptroller general study on whether to relocate the research agency and its Office of Mine Safety and Health. But with the failure of a GOP substitute bill in committee, the concept appears dead in the water at least for this legislative session.
 

Oil/Gas Whistleblower Bill Seen Offering High Levels Of Worker Protection

Whistleblower advocates say new protections for offshore oil and gas workers in a bill that passed the House in late July represent a premium level of safeguards for workers, from burden of proof to statute of limitations provisions, and called for a wider adoption of such standards across industry sectors. But a key Republican said concerns about the lack of clarity on OSHA jurisdiction for offshore oil rigs should have been addressed first.
 

Union Officials Continue Press After 9/11 Responders Health Bill Fails In House

Union officials vowed to continue pressing for passage of legislation that would extend new health monitoring and treatment programs for first responders to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, and to house the programs within NIOSH, after the bill failed in the House 255-159 on a motion to suspend the rules and pass the legislation; a two-thirds vote was required.
 

Michaels Working To Strengthen Enforcement, Worker Input As Top Goals

OSHA chief David Michaels is strengthening enforcement, refocusing workplace safety culture, improving collaboration within OSHA and with other agencies, and modernizing injury and illness tracking, according to a recent letter to stakeholders outlining Department of Labor strategies to reform worker safety.
 

OSHA Move On Infectious Diseases Raises Issue Of Conflicting Health Rules

Some health care professionals are raising concerns that OSHA's upcoming infectious diseases rule might conflict with detailed guidelines already issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in turn presenting compliance and legal issues for those who must comply with myriad requirements. They view CDC as experts in the field and argue that OSHA should defer to that agency's guidance instead of issuing its own rule.
 

Senate Committee Hikes OSHA's Budget, But Less Than House Proposal

Senate Appropriations members voted to boost OSHA's 2011 spending level to $574.1 million -- or 2.8 percent over the agency's current fiscal year, but less of an increase than the House version.
 

Ruling Could Help Define Quasi-Public Sector Exemptions From OSHA

A federal Appeals Court ruling could raise new legal issues about OSHA jurisdiction over quasi-public entities as judges found the Austin, TX bus transit system exempt from the agency's oversight. Similar entities around the country could cite the case in their arguments for exemption, making it difficult for OSHA to expand its jurisdiction, one attorney familiar with the case said.
 

Unlikely Passage Of TSCA Reform Spurs State Push On Chemical Safety

With congressional passage of broad Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform legislation appearing increasingly unlikely this year, state lawmakers are planning to ramp up their efforts to address chemical safety concerns in their legislatures -- a move that activists hope will continue to pressure industry to negotiate TSCA reforms in the future.
 

Democrats Expand Whistleblower Protections In Revised TSCA Reform Bill

Proposed "whistleblower" provisions in a new House bill to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) could modernize and expand whistleblower protections in the chemical industry, making TSCA the first major environmental statute to be updated to be consistent with whistleblower protections in other recent laws, sources say.
 

EPA Sends First-Time Policy On Nanomaterials to OMB

The Environmental Protection Agency has sent to the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) for review a first-time policy that would require industry to provide more information than it currently does about nanoscale ingredients in pesticides, a move that industry fears could stigmatize the items.
 

Industry-Wide Warning To Grain Facilities Could Bolster Willful Violation Claims

OSHA sent a strong message of its intent to cite employers in a targeted industry for willful violations of workplace safety regulations, sending thousands of grain elevator operators a sharply worded letter warning of stepped up inspection and enforcement activity. OSHA chief David Michaels said Aug. 4 the agency plans to refer egregious cases to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution.
 
Inside OSHA

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