Federal agencies

RSS

Washington — Concerned by what it calls “an often-overlooked inequity in the area of vehicle safety,” a coalition of House members is asking the Department of Transportation to require the use of “accurate, up-to-date” female crash test dummies in vehicle safety testing.

Washington — “The nation must renew its commitment to protecting workers from job injury, disease and death, and make this a high priority,” the AFL-CIO says in its annual report on the state of safety and health protections for U.S. workers.

Denver — A new Regional Emphasis Program from OSHA is aimed at safeguarding workers in the cut stone and stone products manufacturing industry from silica hazards.

Washington — OSHA is among the Department of Labor agencies and offices that will provide resources throughout the Small Business Administration’s National Small Business Week, set for May 1-7.

Washington — Citing Arizona’s “pattern of failures to adopt and enforce standards and enforcement policies at least as effective” as those used by OSHA, the agency is proposing to “reconsider and revoke” the final approval of the state’s State Plan for oversight of worker safety and health.

Washington — OSHA has scheduled a virtual public meeting to hear comments and suggestions on issues related to the agency’s Whistleblower Protection Program.

Washington — Understaffed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA “lost a valuable opportunity” to better protect workers by “not identifying federal partners in a position to assist during a large-scale safety and health crisis,” concludes a Department of Labor Office of Inspector General audit report released March 31.

New Orleans — The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ended a district court’s injunction against the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees on jurisdictional grounds, with a 2-1 decision April 7.

Washington — Pointing to OSHA guidance citing “the significant risks associated with inadequate energy control procedures or the failure to properly implement them,” NIOSH is reminding employers that OSHA’s standard on lockout/tagout (1910.147) requires an inspection of written hazardous energy control procedures at least once a year.

Washington — An online dashboard recently introduced by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is intended to improve the safety of offshore oil and gas operations by easing access to safety data.