Regulations/Legislation

Washington — The House Education and Labor Committee on July 27 approved the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act of 2021, with a 27-19 vote.

Columbus, OH — Legislation recently introduced in the Ohio Statehouse would direct health care employers to develop and implement a workplace violence prevention plan within six months.

Salem, OR — Oregon OSHA has adopted permanent rules intended to safeguard workers from extreme heat and wildfire smoke, calling them “the most protective of their kind in the United States.”

Washington — A companion bill to the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1195), passed by the House in April 2021, has been introduced in the Senate.

Washington — People who’ve been convicted of assaulting airline employees would be prohibited from boarding commercial aircraft, under bipartisan legislation introduced April 6 in the House and Senate.

Washington — Proposed legislation that would ease access to health care and other benefits for coal miners who have black lung disease is advancing in the House.

Washington — Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the House would provide copyright protections for voluntary standards when they’re incorporated into mandatory standards developed by OSHA and other agencies.

Washington — The Senate on Feb. 17 passed legislation intended to help prevent suicide, reduce burnout, and address mental and behavioral health conditions among health care professionals.

Olympia, WA — Legislation that would restore Washington state regulations requiring employers to establish practices intended to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders was approved by the state House on Feb. 15.

Sacramento, CA — Aiming to protect physicians and injured workers from exposure to COVID-19, the California Department of Industrial Relations Division of Workers’ Compensation has adopted an emergency regulation that allows medical-legal evaluations to be performed via telehealth.