Last May OSHA began enforcing various provisions of the agency’s requirements of the beryllium standard.  Since then, for the construction and shipyard industries, only the permissible exposure limits and short term exposure limit are being enforced until OSHA undertakes additional rulemaking for those industries. It appears OSHA is taking steps toward rulemaking and has announced that it will address a proposed rule on occupational exposure to beryllium in the construction industry at an upcoming Advisory Committee…

Under current California law, an employer with an establishment in California must report a serious work-related injury, illness or death that occurs at the employer’s place of employment or in connection with their employment to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health by telephone or email within 8 hours after the employer knows or with diligent inquiry would have known of the death or serious injury or illness. Serious injury or illness is defined in…

On July 29th OSHA submitted a draft Request for Information (RFI) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding Table 1 in OSHA’s construction standard for silica. If approved by OMB, OSHA intends to issue the RFI in the Federal Register to determine if revisions to Table 1 may be appropriate. On March 25, 2016, OSHA published a final rule on Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica. The final rule contained two separate standards…

On July 18th President Trump announced his intention to nominate Eugene Scalia to replace former Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta.  Gene Scalia is the son of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.  In 2002, following an appointment by former President George W. Bush, Gene Scalia served as solicitor of the Department of Labor. Mr. Scalia has a history of fighting agency regulatory actions, including an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District…

On July 10, 2019, U.S. House of Representatives Democrats released a bill that, if passed, would require OSHA to develop a federal standard on workplace heat stress. Under the proposed bill, OSHA would have two years to propose a heat protection standard to protect both indoor and outdoor workers. The bill requires the federal standard be at least as protective as “the most protective heat prevention standard adopted by a State plan[.]” This requirement would likely…

This morning President Trump announced Labor Secretary Alex Acosta’s resignation.  Secretary Acosta resigned under mounting pressure due to his involvement in a 2008 plea deal involving Jeffrey Epstein. Patrick Pizzella, who is the current Deputy Secretary of Labor, will become the Acting Secretary of Labor. Pizzella served as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Administration and Management at the Department of Labor from 2001 to 2009.    …

After receiving over 40 public comments and holding a public meeting on its proposed wildfire smoke emergency regulation, California’s Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“DOSH”), has eased some requirements of the proposed rule. (If you would like more information on the proposed regulation, you can check out this previous OSHA Law Blog post). Yet, much of the rule has remained the same. What Remains the Same Under the newest…