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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the wing of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) charged with workplace health issues, has come out with its list of objectives for Healthy People 2020, a program launched by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Among the objectives are to reduce work-related deaths from injuries from 4.0 per 100,000 to 3.6, reduc...
Following a series of court and review commission decisions regarding personal protective equipment (PPE), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued guidance on who must pay for each type of PPE.
The relevant document, Guidance for Personal Equipment in General Industry, took effect on Feb. 15, 2011, clarifying final regulations issued in 2007 and 2009. The prior guidance req...
The $65-million Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, beset by spidery actors falling from the heights and landing on the stage from the beginning of rehearsals, is now facing $12,500 in fines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which issued four citations on Friday (March 4, 2011).
That's not all. In February, the New York State Department of Labor cite...
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) employs 2.1 million people, but just 2,335 of them are field inspectors. The agency is thus requesting an additional $24.7 million in its fiscal year 2012 budget to expand by 52 inspectors.
As budget negotiations stall in Congress over how deep to cut spending, the fate of the OSHA request is—at best—uncertain.
In addition to ...
Some of the fallout from the November elections that turned the House of Representatives over to the Republicans is that life can get tougher for regulators, though few doubt it will stop them.
In particular, Rep. Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.), new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, with input from surveys he took of trade associations, is targeting a proposed regulatio...
Perhaps bowing to pressure from President Obama and his initiative to review all federal regulations to see if they're business friendly or not, OSHA has withdrawn from review by the OMB its proposal to require musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) reporting on the yearly Log 300 injury and illness report.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must review all proposed regulations for their fis...
OSHA chief David Michaels, during a Web chat earlier this week, stressed that creating new standards for workplace injury and illness programs was his agency's highest regulatory priority.
The revamped injury and illness program, yet to be formalized, is being dubbed "I2P2."
“This is a very important project and it is important that the agency get it right,” Michaels said ...
In 2011 the Department of Labor (DOL) plans to issue 35 proposed rules and 25 final rules. Many of these will be emanating from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and will be focusing on workplace safety issues.
Details are contained in the department's Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, which it published just this past Friday (Dec. 17, 2010).
OSHA will be releasing final regu...
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), while legally bound to a fine structure with limits, is seeking to raise its average fine from the $1,000 range to the $3,000 to $4,000 range while awaiting higher fine approval from Congress.
OSHA Director David Michaels announced on April 22 what the agency is calling its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP), which replaces the c...
Effective April 28--Workers Memorial Day--the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will step up enforcement of worker training requirements, especially for non-English speakers.
"OSHA will also assure that its Compliance Officers check and verify not only that the training has been provided, but that it was provided in a format that the workers being trained can understand,...
Practical articles on HR, Safety, compliance, and people operations—written for real businesses, not legal textbooks.
U.S. Department of Labor Officially Restores Prior Overtime Exemption Rules
On May 14th, 2026, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced it has officially rescinded the 2024 overtime exemption rules. Specifically, the WHD published a technical amendment to restore previous 2019 regulations that dictated overtime exemptions for...
NLRB General Counsel Takes Action to Tackle Current Case Backlog
On May 6th, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and NLRB General Counsel Crystal Stowe Carey announced the bulk transfer of thousands of labor practice cases. Specifically, this action fulfills an initiative signed by the NLRB General Counsel earlier this year. Overall, the initiative...
Privacy Agency Invites Comments from Businesses on the CCPA’s Usage of Personal Data
Recently, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) issued a call for comments on the current state of personal data collection under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Specifically, the invitation to deliver remarks was issued on April 20th, 2026. The information provided by the...
DOL Proposes New Joint Employer Rule To Unify Standards Under Federal Labor Laws
In April 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed rule to establish a single, clear standard for determining when joint-employer status applies under three major federal laws: the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Migrant and Seasonal...
DOL Updates Enforcement Approach for Employee Benefit Plans: What Employers Should Know
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced a significant change in its enforcement of employee benefit plan rules. The DOL will now focus more closely on serious violations that harm workers and retirees, meaning compliant employers may face less scrutiny under the updated approach.