Washington – A lack of mandatory standards on Ebola for health care workers leaves nurses unprepared and vulnerable to infection, a registered nurse and union official testified during an Oct. 24 House hearing.

Washington – OSHA has changed its policy on allowing employees at non-union workplaces to choose a union-affiliated representative for “walkaround” inspections, according to an April 25 memo sent to regional administrators.

Washington – The Department of Labor and OSHA have an “identical” interest with labor unions in defending a legal challenge to the Improve Tracking of Workplace Illnesses and Injuries final rule, making union intervention unnecessary, attorneys representing DOL said in a legal brief issued May 30.

Silver Spring, MD – The AFL-CIO’s Executive Council has denounced efforts to roll back federal laws and regulations that “have protected working people on the job” for more than 50 years.

Silver Spring, MD — Construction firms that employ at least some union workers are more likely to perform safety best practices and undergo OSHA training than those with no union employees, according to the results of a biennial survey commissioned by the Center for Construction Research and Training – also known as CPWR.

Triangle, VA — The United Mine Workers Association is suing the Mine Safety and Health Administration and its administrator, David Zatezalo, over the legality of the agency’s removal of a Sophia, WV, mine from Pattern of Violations status.

Triangle, VA — United Mine Workers of America President Cecil E. Roberts recently called proposed legislation that would reduce the scope of mine safety inspections in West Virginia and amend the state’s underground ventilation laws “one of the most outrageous attempts to slash critical protections for miners’ safety and health on the job that I have ever seen.”

Tumwater, WA — In response to a labor union petition, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries is working on new standards for reinforcing steel and post-tensioning in construction.

Washington — Representatives from two labor unions are bringing attention to resources intended to protect workers in “frontline industries” from exposure to the new coronavirus and are calling on the federal government to provide coordinated guidance.

Washington — The AFL-CIO has outlined steps it says all levels of government should take to protect workers from exposure to COVID-19 before reopening the economy.

Washington — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on June 11 rejected an AFL-CIO lawsuit calling on the Department of Labor and OSHA to issue an emergency temporary standard on infectious diseases amid the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

Washington — The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on workplace safety is among the issues explored in the AFL-CIO’s annual report on the state of safety and health protections for U.S. workers.

San Francisco — The Washington State Nurses Association is among four labor unions suing Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia and OSHA in an effort to compel the agency to move forward with rulemaking on an infectious diseases standard that would require employers in the health care industry to protect workers from exposure to harmful infectious diseases such as COVID-19, Ebola and influenza.

Silver Spring, MD — Pushing back on calls to roll back certain workplace safety rules, National Nurses United contends hospital industry cost-cutting has put health care worker safety at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the “current staffing and capacity crises.”

Washington — The full extent of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the nation’s workforce will likely remain unclear because of the lack of a comprehensive national system to gather such information, according to the AFL-CIO’s annual report on the state of safety and health protections for U.S. workers.

Silver Spring, MD — The nation’s largest union and professional association of direct care registered nurses is urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update agency guidance and reinstate the “recommendation to everyone to wear masks in public or in physical proximity to others outside their own household.”

Washington — Longtime AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka died from a reported heart attack Aug. 5. He was 72.

La Grange, IL — Unionized construction worksites may be nearly a fifth less likely to incur OSHA health and safety violations than their nonunionized counterparts, with positive effects on safety even more prevalent in the Midwest, a recent report shows.

Silver Spring, MD — The nation’s largest union and professional association of registered nurses is urging Congress to pass pending legislation that would “end the industry-created nurse staffing crisis” by setting mandated staffing levels in hospitals, as well as take other actions that would improve working conditions for nurses.

Washington — The AFL-CIO and National Nurses United are part of a coalition of labor unions and organizations that has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Labor and OSHA, petitioning a federal court to direct the agency to issue a permanent standard on COVID-19 focused on health care workers.

Silver Spring, MD — Claiming the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is “once again responding to political pressures from those desperate to remove any safety protocols during this deadly pandemic that is still causing unacceptable numbers of infections, hospitalizations and deaths every day,” the nation’s largest union and professional association of registered nurses is calling on the agency to reverse its most recent COVID-19 guidance.

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.

Washington — Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) has reintroduced legislation that would reduce the standard 40-hour workweek to 32 hours.

Washington — OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration have scheduled a national Workers Memorial Day ceremony for April 27 at the Department of Labor headquarters.

Can you provide me with information about isocyanate exposure?

The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists has set new recommendations around lower hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) monitoring, and I have heard that OSHA may consider doing the same. How will these changes impact my gas monitoring program and safety audit?

The chemicals I ordered over a year ago that are still on the shelf … do I need to re-label them?

Is our company at risk of litigation (i.e., employee health concerns) regarding chemical exposure in the workplace, provided we are following OSHA’s permissible exposure limits?

I own a cannabis business. What chemical hazards are my employees exposed to, and how can I assess and prevent health and safety risks?

How can hazardous chemicals enter the human body? What should safety professionals know about each avenue of entry?

Boston – A coalition of workplace safety groups has released a set of recommendations for OSHA to help improve safety for temporary workers.

Washington – Staffing firms and host employers looking to better protect temporary workers from job hazards can now review recommended practices in a guidance document issued Aug. 25 by NIOSH and OSHA.

Newly introduced legislation would mandate site-controlling employers to record all worker injuries and illnesses, regardless of who employs the worker.

Washington – Two new resources from OSHA detail worker fatalities involving electrocution and engulfment and explain how similar events can be prevented.

Oakland, CA – Two new fact sheets from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, also known as Cal/OSHA, outline worker safety rights and employer requirements for protecting temporary workers.

Washington – Newly released draft guidance an OSHA advisory committee recommends that staffing firms and host employers implement a safety and health program describing the responsibilities of both entities to protect temporary workers.

Washington – As part of its Temporary Worker Initiative, OSHA has released guidance documents intended to clarify training requirements and hazard communication responsibilities for employers of temporary workers.

Philadelphia – Staffing agencies that hire temporary workers need to be regulated more vigorously, and employers that use those agencies should carry a heavier load of responsibility for workers’ safety, a trio of Temple University law students concluded in a recent report examining how staffing agencies and host employers may “pass the buck” to get around proper safety training and other requirements.

Washington — For the second time in less than four years, the National Labor Relations Board has changed its definition of a “joint employer.”

Washington — The National Labor Relations Board has pushed to Feb. 26 the effective date of its revised “joint employer” rule, saying the move will “facilitate resolution of legal challenges.”

Washington — The House Education and the Workforce Committee has advanced a resolution aimed at repealing the Department of Labor’s rule on determining if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.

Washington — President Joe Biden has vetoed a Congressional Review Act resolution intended to repeal the National Labor Relations Board’s “joint employer” rule, which remains in legal limbo.

Washington — The National Labor Relations Board has withdrawn its appeal of a federal court decision that blocked the board’s joint employer rule.

Washington — Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) is threatening acting Labor Secretary Julie Su with a subpoena over her “failure to provide the requested information” on the Department of Labor’s independent contractor rule.

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The TAB Wrapper Tornado line of orbital stretch-wrapping packaging machines secures a load to its pallet as a single unit for improved protection, safety, stability and confidence in handling and transportation.

The Lifter is an automated manhole cover remover.

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