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Washington — A companion bill to the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1195), passed by the House in April 2021, has been introduced in the Senate.

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency is accepting comment until July 5 on a proposed rule that would establish reporting and recordkeeping requirements for asbestos – a known human carcinogen – under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

On April 8, OSHA launched its long-awaited National Emphasis Program on outdoor and indoor heat hazards. A compliance directive (OSHA Instruction CPL 03-00-0240) describes agency policies and procedures related to the NEP. The program targets specific industries that OSHA considers to have the highest exposure potential to heat-related hazards and resulting illnesses and deaths.

Washington — “It is past time for regulators to fully recognize the hazards presented by reactive chemicals,” Katherine Lemos, chair and CEO of the Chemical Safety Board, says in a new video in which the agency calls on OSHA and the Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen their standards on these substances.

Washington — “The nation must renew its commitment to protecting workers from job injury, disease and death, and make this a high priority,” the AFL-CIO says in its annual report on the state of safety and health protections for U.S. workers.

Denver — A new Regional Emphasis Program from OSHA is aimed at safeguarding workers in the cut stone and stone products manufacturing industry from silica hazards.

Washington — Citing Arizona’s “pattern of failures to adopt and enforce standards and enforcement policies at least as effective” as those used by OSHA, the agency is proposing to “reconsider and revoke” the final approval of the state’s State Plan for oversight of worker safety and health.

Washington — Understaffed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA “lost a valuable opportunity” to better protect workers by “not identifying federal partners in a position to assist during a large-scale safety and health crisis,” concludes a Department of Labor Office of Inspector General audit report released March 31.

New Orleans — The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ended a district court’s injunction against the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees on jurisdictional grounds, with a 2-1 decision April 7.

Washington — Pointing to OSHA guidance citing “the significant risks associated with inadequate energy control procedures or the failure to properly implement them,” NIOSH is reminding employers that OSHA’s standard on lockout/tagout (1910.147) requires an inspection of written hazardous energy control procedures at least once a year.