Last month, Assistant Secretary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Dr. David Michaels held an OSHA Employees All-Hands Meeting. OSHA employees who were not able to attend the meeting in person were able to participate through the web.

OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary Jordan Barab ended some speculation late last month when he announced that he and agency head Dr. David Michaels will remain at their posts.

OSHA's new Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee held its first meeting last week in Washington, D.C. Representatives from both management and labor highlighted improvements made to the program over the past 18 months.

Most of the sources with longstanding OSHA connections that ISHN has contacted post-election contend that we are in for a revival of the Injury and Illness Prevention Program (i2P2). OSHA officials backed off discussing in public to any detailed degree the controversial rule during the 2012 presidential election race.

We could see history being made here. Many DC sources tell us the same thing: Dr. Michaels “loves” his job, according to one source, and has made it known in DC he wants to stay on. It would be the first time in OSHA’s 40+ year history that an OSHA chief has stayed in place for a president’s second term.

This much we know today: our government in Washington is the same as it was yesterday. Democrats control the White House and the Senate. Republicans retain control of the House of Representatives.

Reflecting on a summer that saw a record number of heat-related weather emergencies across the country, OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels said there’s no way of knowing how many workers are alive and well right now because their employers took steps to reduce the risk of heat-related illness.

After giving a one-hour informal talk to hundreds of safety pros at ASSE’s annual meeting in Denver Monday afternoon, Dr. David Michaels, the OSHA chief, held an equally informal sit-down interview session with about a half-dozen reporters.

OSHA announced an updated hazard communication standard today that it says will help workers be safer and manufacturers be more competitive by providing a better understanding of the dangers related to chemicals in their workplaces.

OSHA chief Dr. Michaels said this week at the National Safety Congress and Expo the long-awaited Global Harmonization System standard that will revise OSHA’s hazcom data sheets is now under review at the Office of Management and Budget.