Labor

Washington — Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is among four lawmakers calling for Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta to address their concerns over OSHA’s responses to a Government Accountability Office report, issued in November, on the health and safety of meat and poultry industry workers.

Washington — The Chemical Safety Board and OSHA’s Susan Harwood Training Grant Program once again are slated for elimination in President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2019 budget proposal.

Washington — The Mine Safety and Health Administration has no immediate plans to change its regulation on respirable dust in coal mines, MSHA administrator David Zatezalo said Feb. 6 during a hearing before the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee.

The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upholds the lower permissible exposure limit in OSHA’s updated silica rule. Supporters of the rule call the court’s decision a “huge victory” for workers, while opponents say it disregards “legitimate concerns.”

The latest agenda, released in December, reflects the Trump administration’s push for deregulation, and details a plan for agencies to put forth “three deregulatory actions for every new regulatory action in 2018.”

Washington — NIOSH, OSHA and the Bureau of Labor Statistics should team up to enhance occupational safety and health surveillance programs, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine states.

Oakland, CA — Hospitality workers are praising the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board for unanimously approving a standard designed to protect housekeepers from workplace hazards.

San Diego — A U.S. Department of Agriculture proposal to remove maximum line speeds in pork-processing plants “will translate into even more illness and injury” among workers, according to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.

Arlington Heights, IL — Nearly 80 percent of plastic surgeons experience work-related musculoskeletal issues or injuries, according to the results of a recently conducted survey of practitioners.

Washington — Public Citizen has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Labor and OSHA, alleging that the agencies illegally violated OSHA’s Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses final rule by denying requests the watchdog group submitted under the Freedom of Information Act.