Report: OSHA Details More Rule Postponements, Delays

The Trump administration recently disclosed plans to halt several more pending workplace safety regulations.

Bloomberg reports that the latest regulatory agenda from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, published last month, blamed “resource constraints and other priorities” for suspending efforts to publish four new rules.

Three other proposed rules, meanwhile, will not be published anytime soon after the agency designated them as "long-term actions."

The withdrawn regulations include provisions regarding combustible dust exposure, construction noise, vehicles driving in reverse at factories and construction sites and chemical exposure standards.

The delayed rules involve emergency preparedness, cranes and derricks at construction sites and infectious diseases in health care facilities.

The dust rule, in particular, drew the ire of business groups as overly burdensome.

“This suggests that the agency is taking a responsible approach to regulating and trying to focus on those areas where there is the most need, and to do so in a way that respects the various interests at stake,” Marc Freedman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told Bloomberg.

Other workplace safety rules, such as provisions regulating communications towers and industrial trucks, remain on track. Both are supported by industry groups in their respective sectors.

The regulatory agenda was published prior to reports that the administration delayed or withdrew 860 rules during its first five months, including several noteworthy OSHA rules.

Peg Seminario of the AFL-CIO union slammed the regulatory cuts and told Bloomberg that the White House "is abandoning protecting workers from health and safety hazards."