Stakeholders say OSHA's new interim final rules on whistleblower protections provide advantages to employers by making burdens of proof more stringent on the complainant, but also offer whistleblowers an easier avenue to take their cases to court.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The White House has signed off on OSHA's draft planned rule on cooperative agreements, allowing the agency to publish a proposed regulation shortly in the Federal Register that would put an end to blanket exemptions from site inspections for employers that participate in voluntary on-site consultations.

OSHA, along with key labor and worker safety groups, are increasingly looking to use EPA's environmental statutes to bolster occupational safety, including the proposal of worker protection measures as key provisions in bills to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

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.

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.

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.

OSHA says a $50.6 million settlement with BP Products North America reached Thursday provides an unprecedented level of oversight of BP's safety program, including stringent new incident reporting requirements, as part of a deal that comes just as the agency faces pressure on Capitol Hill to demand greater concessions in any settlements with so-called “problem companies.”

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

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.

OSHA is not finding significant problems through its pilot enforcement program targeting employer under-recording and has suspended federal inspection activity until additional targeting criteria can be found, sources say.

President Obama issued a memo last week to extend and strengthen an initiative focused on federal worker safety and health by creating aggressive performance targets.

Industry and union stakeholders are sharply divided over an unprecedented move by the Department of Labor calling for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to fix electrical violations at 350 facilities, as it is the first time that DOL has executed such an enterprise-wide effort and could portend the way it responds to such findings in the future.

A NIOSH workplace evaluation program would be significantly expanded in scope under a provision added to the mine bill prior to its passage by the House labor committee last week, allowing physicians, former employees, and possibly OSHA inspectors to request such evaluations for the first time.

OSHA won't rule out using an upcoming illness and injury prevention program rule to compel employers to address ergonomics and other areas lacking specific standards, in what amounts to a signal to industry groups that one of their top concerns about the planned rule may come to fruition.