Federal Agencies

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.

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.

Baton Rouge, LA — The OSHA Region 6 Training Institute Education Centers recently released a video on trenching and excavation safety.

Washington — Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) have reintroduced bipartisan legislation that would require the secretary of transportation to create a working group to determine obstacles to safe operation for livestock, insect and agricultural haulers in an effort to reform federal hours-of-service and electronic logging device regulations.

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking comment on a petition that aims to amend hours-of-service requirements for haulers of livestock, insects and aquatic animals, allowing for a 16-hour on-duty period after 10 consecutive hours of off-duty time, the agency announced in the Feb. 6 Federal Register.

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.

Washington — The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s “failure to establish a final tank car specification for poison/toxic inhalation hazard tank cars and an aggressive schedule for removing nonconforming tank cars from service” jeopardizes safety among fleets, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in its investigation of a chlorine release from a ruptured rail tank car in West Virginia.

Washington — OSHA has published a new video highlighting the inspection process under the agency’s Regional Emphasis Program for fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate and agricultural anhydrous ammonia.

Washington — The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a proposed rule that would allow civilians to operate drones at night and over populated areas without a waiver, amending current regulations that prohibit such activities.

Morgantown, WV — Workers in the motor vehicle towing industry face an on-the-job fatality risk nearly 15 times greater than workers in all other private industries, according to a recent study from NIOSH.