Federal Agencies

Washington — Citing recent media reports of alleged unethical conduct within the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, a delegation from the House Energy and Commerce Committee is asking the agency to provide insight into the matter.

Kansas City, MO — OSHA is urging employers in the construction industry to take part in a weeklong safety stand-down to raise awareness about suicide prevention.

Pittsburgh — NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory has marked Sept. 7-10 as its annual Respiratory Protection Week, an event intended to promote proper respiratory protection practices through the sharing of related research findings and educational tools.

Washington — NIOSH is partnering with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine on a survey focusing on employer efforts related to workplace testing for COVID-19.

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has set a deadline of Sept. 30 for certified medical examiners to submit the results of physical qualification exams of commercial truck and bus drivers that were completed while the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners was offline from Dec. 1, 2017, through Aug. 13, 2018.

Washington — OSHA’s recent citation of a Boston contractor includes the first egregious violation issued under the Biden administration, acting agency administrator Jim Frederick confirmed Aug. 18.

Washington — The Senate confirmed Jennifer Homendy as the new chair of the National Transportation Safety Board with a voice vote Aug. 9.

Washington — NIOSH has extended until Oct. 15 the comment period on a Request for Information on personal protective equipment use, availability, accessibility, acceptability and knowledge for “underserved” workers, according to a notice published in the Aug. 16 Federal Register.

Washington — NIOSH has finalized the beta version of an online software tool designed to provide post-shift assessments of mine worker exposure to respirable crystalline silica.

Washington — OSHA is planning to convene a small business panel on Oct. 4 to discuss a potential standard on emergency response, the Small Business Administration has announced.