Labor Division

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Washington — Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) have reintroduced the Healthy Families Act (S. 840 and H.R. 1516), legislation that would allow workers to annually accrue up 56 hours of paid sick leave.

New York — OSHA enforcement activity “continues to decline” under the Trump administration, according to the National Employment Law Project, citing the agency’s own metrics. The advocacy group also claims that OSHA’s fatality/catastrophe investigations climbed to their highest level in a decade in fiscal year 2018.

Washington — Offices in the legislative branch should be required to comply with investigative subpoenas related to workplace safety and health, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights states in its biennial report to Congress, issued March 4.

Triangle, VA — United Mine Workers of America President Cecil E. Roberts recently called proposed legislation that would reduce the scope of mine safety inspections in West Virginia and amend the state’s underground ventilation laws “one of the most outrageous attempts to slash critical protections for miners’ safety and health on the job that I have ever seen.”

Boston — Frequent changes to health care environments and protocol have contributed to an increased rate of burnout among physicians – creating a public health crisis that “urgently demands action,” a recent report from the Harvard Global Health Institute concludes.

Washington — Nearly three dozen House Democrats say they are “deeply concerned” that OSHA’s rollback of its electronic recordkeeping rule “endangers worker protections and undermines hard-fought gains,” and are urging Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta to rescind the rule.

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency is offering training intended to help prevent poisonings among workers who apply the toxic herbicide paraquat, as required by agency regulations.

Washington — OSHA is slated to receive a relatively small increase in funding, while the Mine Safety and Health Administration is in line for a modest raise, under President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2020 budget proposal.

Washington — OSHA is seeking input to aid in a possible update of its powered industrial trucks standard (1910.178), which covers forklifts, fork trucks, tractors, platform lift trucks and motorized hand trucks, among others, according to a Request for Information published in the March 11 Federal Register.

Washington — Attorneys general of six states have filed a lawsuit seeking to halt OSHA’s rollback of its electronic recordkeeping requirements for submitting worker injury and illness data, claiming the agency did not provide a “reasoned explanation” for the change.