A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues
It’s mid-summer and a man’s fancy turns to what’s happening in OSHA these days. Let’s update you all before you (and I) head out on vacation: Assistant Secretary: Tomorrow will mark a full 18 months of this administration and still no Assistant Secretary at OSHA. Scott Mugno, who has gone through a Senate confirmation hearing…
Some good news from the Senate, and God knows, we need a little good news. The Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Committee voted yesterday to approve a bi-partisan bill that provides a $4 million increase for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and full funding for OSHA’s Susan Harwood Worker Training…
The House of Representatives Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee has reported out a bill cutting overall OSHA funding from $552.78 million in FY 2018 to $545.25 million for FY 2019, a 1.4% reduction. It’s not yet clear where the cuts come from, although the $10.5 million Susan Harwood Worker Training grants have once again been eliminated from funding…
In a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee today, Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta today refused to commit not to rescind OSHA’s electronic recordkeeping rule. The rule, issued in 2016, requires employers to send injury and illness information into OSHA and prohibits employers from retaliating against workers for reporting injuries. The electronic recordkeeping rule has…
Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta will testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday morning regarding the Presidents FY 2019 DOL budget proposal. Unfortunately, the entire Confined Space staff will be busy that morning, so you can watch the hearing live here, or (assuming the video works and the crick don’t rise), we’ll provide our…
I’m back after a couple of weeks of travel and instead of focusing about what happened over the last couple of week, what didn’t happen is probably more significant. What Happened Six months into Fiscal Year 2018, Congress finally passed the FY 2018 budget. Congress essentially ignored the President’s request to slash worker safety and health…
Yesterday’s House Appropriations hearing on the Labor Department’s FY 2019 budget was a fairly low key — mostly boring — rendition of how well Alex Acosta thinks things are going in Trump’s Department of Labor. I had intended to “live tweet” the hearing, but the Committee’s website was having “technical difficulties.” Rebecca Rainey of Inside…
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing tomorrow morning at 10:00 am on the FY 2019 Department of Labor Budget. Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta will testify. Ticked Off About Tipping This should be a rather lively hearing for Acosta. Among the top issues he…
Earlier this week, President Trump submitted his Fiscal Year 2019 budget proposal. This is his second budget proposal and although it leaves OSHA’s budget fairly flat, it once again proposes to slash or eliminate important safety and health programs and agencies. And this is Trump’s second OSHA budget that has been proposed with no Assistant…
As we go to press, it looks likely that the federal government, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, will shut down at midnight tomorrow night — for the second time in less than 5 years. I have two vivid memories from the last government shutdown in 2013 and how it affected OSHA and American…