Labor

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.

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.”

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.

Schaumburg, IL — Veterinarians have a suicide rate up to 3.5 times greater than the general population, according to recent research from the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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.

Washington — Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) said he is “grateful” for the increased support for his Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1309), the subject of a Feb. 27 hearing before the House Education and Labor Committee’s Workforce Protections Subcommittee.

Washington — For the third time, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has approved Scott Mugno’s nomination to lead OSHA, with the most recent nod taking place during a Feb. 27 hearing.