Federal Agencies

Washington — OSHA has scheduled a virtual public meeting to hear comments and suggestions on issues related to the agency’s Whistleblower Protection Program.

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.

Washington — An online dashboard recently introduced by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is intended to improve the safety of offshore oil and gas operations by easing access to safety data.

Washington — President Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate Robin Hutcheson as administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which hasn’t had a Senate-confirmed leader since October 2019.

Washington — OSHA has scheduled a virtual stakeholder meeting on the agency’s efforts to protect workers from heat-related hazards.

Washington — The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on April 4 heard oral arguments on why it should order OSHA to issue a permanent standard on COVID-19 for the health care industry.

Washington — Maritime workers are more likely to report smoking and binge-drinking, among other habits and conditions, according to a recent study conducted by NIOSH.